拙笨
zhuō​bèn

clumsy

拙 zhuō stupid

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 出 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

出
出 Sound component
chū go out

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsywet[t]otstupid, inept
Zhengzhangkljod
Unicodejiuɛt

說文解字

不巧也。从手出聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

笨 bèn foolish

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 本 represents the sound.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

本
本 Sound component
běn root

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpɯːnʔ
bɯːnʔ

說文解字

《說文》：“笨，竹裏也。从竹，本聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)