睁着眼睛说瞎话
zhēng​zhe​yǎn​jīng​shuō​xiā​huà

lie through one's teeth

睁 zhēng open eyes Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 争 represents the sound. Simplified form of 睜.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
争
争 Sound component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

着 zhe, zháo, zhuó [progress particle] Simplified

Original meaning: chopsticks

Simplified form of 著. 艹 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as 箸. The modern meanings are phonetic loans.

Components

艹
艹 MeaningSimplified component
cao, cǎo grass

Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. 艹 and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 艹 than it was in ancient scripts.
者
者 Sound component
zhě one who...

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodedjiɑk
djiɑk

Sources

Character origin
Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Readings & variants
Unicode

眼 yǎn eye

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 艮 represents the sound.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
艮
艮 Sound component
gěn, gèn, hén blunt

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngonXŋˤə[n]ʔ protrude as a knob
ngeanX[ŋ]ˤ<r>ə[n]ʔ eye

說文解字

《說文》：“眼，目也。从目，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)

睛 jing, jīng eyeball

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 青 represents the sound.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
青
青 Sound component
qīng green or blue

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsleŋ
sʰleŋʔ
Unicodetziɛng

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

说 shuō speak Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 兑 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

兑
兑 Sound component
duì, ruì, duó exchange
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

瞎 xiā blind

To damage 害 one's eyes 目; 害 also provides the pronunciation

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
害
害 SoundMeaning component
hài, hai injure

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangqʰraːd

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

话 huà, hua speech Simplified

Simplified form of 話. Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 𠯑 represents the sound.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

𠯑
𠯑 Sound component
guā block the mouth

Modern form looks like 舌.

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

Sources

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

睜 zhēng open eyes Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 目 represents the meaning and 爭 represents the sound.

Components

目
目 Meaning component
mù eye
爭
爭 Sound component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangzeŋʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

著 zhe, zháo, zhù [progress particle] Traditional

Original meaning: chopsticks

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as 箸. The modern meanings are phonetic loans.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. 艹 and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 著, "chopsticks", which is no longer the most common meaning of 著 in modern Mandarin.
者
者 Sound component
zhě one who...

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

躇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrjoHt<r>ak-s place (n.); visible
drjakm-t<r>ak put on clothes; be attached
trjakt<r>ak to place

Sources

Character origin
Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

說 shuō speak Traditional

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

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
兌
兌 Sound component
exchange
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

說文解字

《說文》：“說，說釋也。从言、兌。一曰談說。”

Sources

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

話 huà, hua speech Traditional

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

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
𠯑
𠯑 Sound component
guā block the mouth

Modern form looks like 舌.

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

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwaejH[g]ʷˤrat-s speak; words

說文解字

《說文》：“，合會善言也。从言，聲。《傳》曰：‘告之話言。’譮，籀文从會。”

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)