真假难辨 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

zhēn real

Original meaning: precious

Based on the original meaning "precious", now written as 珍. The meaning later shifted to "genuine" and "true".

Components

diān, tiǎn to fall forwards

Based on an ancient variant of 殄.

Change in sound

真 and 𠂈 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
真 *ti[n]
𠂈 *[d]ˤə[n]ʔ

Change in form

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

貝 Meaning component

bèi sea shell

In ancient China, shells were considered precious and were used as currency.

丁 Sound component

dīng cubes

Change in sound

真 and 丁 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
真 *ti[n]
丁 *tˤeŋ

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (7 of 15 verified)

镇慎填颠滇嗔缜稹瞋鎮禛顛瑱鬒縝

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyin	ti[n]	true, real

說文解字

《說文》：“真，僊人變形而登天也。从，从目，从。八，所乘載也。，古文真。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.643-644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)

jiǎ, jià falsehood

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 叚 represents the sound.

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

叚 Sound Meaning component

jiǎ, xiá false

叚 also serves as a meaning component.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kaeX	Cə.kˤraʔ	borrow; false
	kaeX	kˤraʔ	great

說文解字

《說文》：“假，非真也。从人，叚聲。一曰至也。《虞書》曰：‘假于上下。’”

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)

nán, nan, nàn difficult Simplified

Original meaning: type of bird

Simplified form of 難. Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

又 Simplified component

yòu again

Shorthand for the 𦰩 component in the traditional character 難.

隹 Meaning component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

滩摊瘫傩

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

biàn distinguish

Original meaning: to cut into two parts

刂 (knife) added between two 辛 (chisel) components or 辡 conveying the original meaning "to cut into two parts". The meaning has shifted over time and now means "distinguish". 辡 also provides the sound.

Components

辡 Sound Iconic component

biàn criminals accusing one another

Here used to depict an object being cut into two parts. 辡 also gives the sound.

刂 Iconic component

dāo knife

Depicts a knife.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	bjenX	[b]renʔ	distinguish

說文解字

《說文》：“辦，判也。从刀，辡聲。”

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)

nán, nan, nàn difficult Traditional

Original meaning: type of bird

Phonosemantic compound. 隹 represents the meaning and 𦰩 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of bird". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.