滥竽充数
làn​yú​chōng​shù

fill a quota

滥 làn flood Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 监 represents the sound. Simplified form of 濫.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

监
监 Sound component
jiān watch carefully

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

竽 yú ancient woodwind instrument

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

flute

于
于 SoundIconic component
yú at

Depicts a musical instrument.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthju[ɢ]ʷ(r)a reed organ

說文解字

《說文》：“竽，管三十六簧也。从竹，亏聲。”

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)

充 chōng fill

Pictograph of an adult person with a hairpin in their hair, indicating being fully grown up into adulthood. In ancient China, adults usually wore a hairpin. Similar in origin to 每.

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

统铳統茺銃

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhuwngtʰuŋ full, fill

說文解字

《說文》：“充，長也；高也。从儿，育省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
許進雄《簡明中國文字學》p.339-340
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

数 shù, shǔ, shu number Simplified

Simplified form of 數. Phonosemantic compound. 攵 represents the meaning and 婁 represents the sound.

Components

攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

娄
娄 Sound component
lóu, lǚ, lǘ surname
Change in sound

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

擞薮

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

濫 làn flood Traditional

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

監
監 Sound component
jiān watch carefully

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangɡ·raːms
ɡraːmʔ

說文解字

氾也。从水監聲。一曰濡上及下也。《詩》曰：“𧥑沸濫泉。”一曰清也。

Sources

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

數 shù, shǔ, shu number Traditional

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

Components

攵
攵 Meaning component
pū tap

攵 is a component form of 攴.

婁
婁 Sound component
surname
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

擻藪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsrjuXs-roʔ count (v.)
srjuHs-roʔ-s number (n.)
sraewks-rok frequently

說文解字

《說文》：“數，計也。从攴，婁聲。”

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)