放缓
fàng​huǎn

slow down

放 fàng put

Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 方 represents the sound.

Components

方
方 Sound component
fāng, fang square
攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴. Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpjangXpaŋʔ imitate
pjangHpaŋ-s release; let go

說文解字

《說文》：“放，逐也。从攴，方聲。”

Sources

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

缓 huǎn slow Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 爰 represents the sound. Simplified form of 緩.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

爰
爰 Sound component
yuán pull, draw, lead on

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

緩 huǎn slow Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 爰 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

爰
爰 Sound component
yuán pull, draw, lead on

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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-SagarthwanX[ɢ]ʷˤa[n]ʔslack; slow
Zhengzhangɢʷaːnʔ
Unicodehuɑ̌n

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica