qiàn​quē HSK7

deficiency

qiàn, qian yawn, deficient

Pictograph of a person () opening their mouth to yawn.

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts an open mouth.

Iconic component
rén, ren person

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Meaning (13 of 23 verified)

Sound (3 of 13 verified)

Iconic (6)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhjomH[k]ʰ(r)om-s yawn

說文解字

《說文》:“欠,張口气悟也。象气从人上出之形。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

quē be short of, lack

Original meaning: damaged object

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
fǒu pottery
Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "damaged object", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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-SagartkhwetNə-[k]ʷʰˤet break; defective

說文解字

《說文》:“缺,器破也。从缶,決省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica