步履维艰
bù​lǚ​wéi​jiān

difficult progress

步 bù step

Pictograph of one foot in front of another, depicting footsteps.

Components

止
止 Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop
𣥂
𣥂 Iconic component
tà (foot), to trample

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

陟歲

Iconic (1)

涉

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

埗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbuHmə-bˤa-s step

說文解字

《說文》：“步，行也。从止，相背。”

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)

履 lǚ to tread on, shoes

Depicts a person (頁) using their foot (夂) to tread. 眉 was later added to embellish the character and to represent the sound while a component that depicts a shoe was also later added to 夂 (foot) to emphasize another meaning "shoes". The component that depicts a shoe was later reanalyzed as meaning component 彳 (walk).

Components

眉
眉 SoundIconicRemnant component
méi eyebrows

Depicts an eyebrow.

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 眉 than it was in ancient scripts.
彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行. Originally depicted a shoe.

頁
頁 Iconic component
yè (head), page

Depicts a head on top of a person.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 頁 than it was in ancient scripts.
夂
夂 Iconic component
zhǐ, zhōng go

夂 is a component form of 止. Depicts a foot.

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Meaning (1)

屐

Remnant (1)

屐

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlijX[r]ijʔ tread on; sandal

說文解字

《說文》：“履，足所依也。从尸，从彳，从攵，舟象履形。一曰尸聲。，古文履从頁，从足。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫zi.tools季旭昇《說文新證》p.681-682Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

维 wéi hold together, maintain Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 隹 represents the sound. Simplified form of 維.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

隹
隹 Sound component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

潍

Sources

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

艰 jiān difficult Simplified

Simplified form of 艱. Originally pictograph of person (卩 or 女) guarding a drum (壴) to report difficulties. Later reanalyzed as a compound of 𦰩 and 艮, which both represent the sound.

Components

又
又 Simplified component
yòu again

Shorthand for the 𦰩 component in the traditional character 艱.

艮
艮 Sound component
gěn, gèn, hén blunt

Originally written as 壴 but later reanalyzed as 艮 to represent the sound.

Sources

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

維 wéi hold together, maintain Traditional

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

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

隹
隹 Sound component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

濰

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartywijɢʷij (? < *ɢʷuj)rope for tying

說文解字

《說文》：“維，車蓋維也。从糸，隹聲。”

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)

艱 jiān difficult Traditional

Originally pictograph of person (卩 or 女) guarding a drum (壴) to report difficulties. Later reanalyzed as a compound of 𦰩 and 艮, which both represent the sound.

Components

𦰩
𦰩 SoundIconic component
jiān to sigh

Depicts a person reporting difficulties. Originally written as 卩 or 女.

艮
艮 Sound component
gěn, gèn, hén blunt

Originally written as 壴 but later reanalyzed as 艮 to represent the sound.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 艮 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkeankˤrə[r] difficulty

說文解字

《說文》：“艱，土難治也。从堇，艮聲。囏，籀文艱从喜。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.912-913
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)