杜渐防萌
dù​jiān​fáng​méng

nip in the bud

杜 dù stop

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 土 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
土
土 Sound component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangl'aːʔ
Unicodedhǒ

說文解字

甘棠也。从木土聲。

Sources

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

渐 jiàn gradually Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 斩 represents the sound. Simplified form of 漸.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

斩
斩 Sound component
zhǎn, zhàn chop

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

防 fáng defend

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

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

方
方 Sound component
fāng, fang square

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjang[m-p]aŋ dike

說文解字

隄也。从𨸏方聲。

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)

萌 méng, míng bud

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 明 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

明
明 Sound component
míng, ming bright

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmreːŋ

說文解字

艸芽也。从艸明聲。

Sources

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

漸 jiàn gradually Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 斬 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

斬
斬 Sound component
chop

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsjem[ts]am moisten
dzjemX[dz]amʔ gradually; advance

說文解字

《說文》：“漸，水。出丹陽黟南蠻中，東入海。从水，斬聲。”

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)