积重难返 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

jī accumulate, store up Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 只 represents the sound. Simplified form of 積.

Components

禾 Meaning component

hé grain stalk

只 Sound component

zhǐ, zhī only

Sources

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

zhòng, chóng heavy

Pictograph of a person (亻) carrying a heavy basket (東) on their back.

Components

亻 Iconic component

rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

東 Sound Iconic component

dōng east

Depicts a basket.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

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

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (6 of 8 verified)

董踵锺種腫衝鍾動

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

腫

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	drjowng	[m]-troŋ	repeat; double
	drjowngX	N-t<r>oŋʔ	heavy
	drjowngH	N-t<r>oŋʔ-s	weight (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“重，厚也。从壬，東聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.657-658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

fǎn return

To walk 辶 backwards 反; 反 also provides the pronunciation

Components

辶 Meaning component

chuò walk

反 Sound Meaning component

fǎn reverse

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjonX	Cə.panʔ	return
Zhengzhang		panʔ
Unicode	biæ̌n

說文解字

還也。从辵从反，反亦聲。《商書》曰：“祖甲返。”

Sources

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

jī accumulate, store up Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 責 represents the sound.

Components

禾 Meaning component

hé grain stalk

責 Sound component

zé responsibility

Change in sound

積 and 責 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
積 tsjek
責 tsreak

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsjek	[ts]ek	accumulate

說文解字

《說文》：“積，聚也。从禾。責聲。”

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.

Components

𦰩 Sound component

jiān to sigh

Change in sound

難 and 𦰩 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

隹 Meaning component

zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

攤儺癱灘

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	nan	nˤar	difficult
	nanH	nˤar-s	difficulty

說文解字

《說文》：“，鳥也。从鳥，堇聲。難，或从隹。”

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)

积 jī accumulate, store up Simplified

Components

Sources

重 zhòng, chóng heavy

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (6 of 8 verified)

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

难 nán, nan, nàn difficult Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

Sources

返 fǎn return

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

積 jī accumulate, store up Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

難 nán, nan, nàn difficult Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

jī accumulate, store up Simplified

zhòng, chóng heavy

nán, nan, nàn difficult Simplified

fǎn return

jī accumulate, store up Traditional

nán, nan, nàn difficult Traditional