毁誉参半
huǐ​yù​cān​bàn

mixed reviews

毁 huǐ destroy Simplified

Simplified form of 毀. Phonosemantic compound. 毇 represents the sound and 土 represents the meaning.

Components

毇
毇 SoundRemnant component
huǐ to pound rice
工
工 Simplified component
gōng work

Variant of the 土 component in the traditional character 毀.

Component uses

Sound (1)

燬

Meaning (1)

燬

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.1191-1192
Readings & variants
Unicode

誉 yù fame Simplified

Word 言 of one's success 兴

Components

兴
兴 Meaning component
xìng, xīng rise, flourish
言
言 Meaning component
yán speech

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

参 cān, shēn take part in Simplified

Original meaning: Three Stars constellation

Simplified form of 參. Depicts three (三) stars (晶) shining (光). Originally represented the Three Stars constellation (參) in Chinese astronomy. The more common meaning "take part in" is a phonetic loan.

Components

晶
晶 IconicSimplified component
jīng bright, crystal

Depicts three stars joined together

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 晶 than it was in ancient scripts.
光
光 IconicRemnant component
guāng light
三
三 SoundMeaning component
sān three

Component uses

Sound (0 of 8 verified)

惨渗掺碜糁骖毵黪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodechrim
shrim
tsom

Sources

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

半 bàn half

Depicts separating a cow (牛) into two halves (八).

Components

八
八 Iconic component
bā eight

Depicts splitting into two halves.

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

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 11 verified)

判伴叛胖畔衅绊拌袢泮絆

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

畔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpanHpˤan-s half

說文解字

《說文》：“半，物中分也。从八，从牛。牛為物大，可以分也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.89-90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)

毀 huǐ destroy Traditional

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

Components

毇
毇 SoundRemnant component
huǐ to pound rice
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

譭

Meaning (1)

譭

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxjweX[m̥](r)ajʔ demolish

說文解字

《說文》：“毀，缺也。从土，毇省聲。，古文毀从壬。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.1191-1192
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

譽 yù fame Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 與 represents the sound.

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
與
與 Sound component
yǔ, yù together with

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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyom-q(r)apraise (v.)
yoH[ɢ](r)a-sjoy
yoHm-q(r)a-spraise, renown
Zhengzhangla
las
Unicodeiù

說文解字

（纤）也。从言與聲。

Sources

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

參 cān, shēn take part in Traditional

Original meaning: Three Stars constellation

Depicts three (三) stars (晶) shining (光). Originally represented the Three Stars constellation (參) in Chinese astronomy. The more common meaning "take part in" is a phonetic loan.

Components

晶
晶 Iconic component
jīng bright, crystal
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 晶 than it was in ancient scripts.
光
光 IconicRemnant component
guāng light
三
三 SoundMeaning component
sān three

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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 Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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 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

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

摻慘滲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshomr̥ˤəʔaccumulate
tsrhim[tsʰr][u]m 參差 tsrhim.tsrhje uneven
sams.rum (*s.r- > s-; infl. by 四 *s-?)three
srimsrum (should be *s.rum)the constellation Orion’ (named for the three stars in Orion’s belt)

說文解字

《說文》：“曑，商星也。从晶，聲。參，曑或省。”

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)