答白
dā​bái

answer

答 dá, dā answer

Original meaning: small bean

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 合 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "small bean". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

Change in meaning
⺮ hints at the original meaning of 答, "small bean", which is no longer the most common meaning of 答 in modern Mandarin.
合
合 Sound component
hé to join
Change in sound

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

劄

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttop[t]ˤ[u]p answer

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.68
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

白 bái, bai white

Origin unclear. Possibly depicts a thumb or a person's face.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (8 of 15 verified)

百怕伯迫拍帕柏泊舶魄珀帛粕铂樂

Meaning (2 of 13 verified)

的珀皓皖皑皋皙皎皤皅皦皒皚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbaekbˤrak white

說文解字

《說文》：“白，西方色也。陰用事，物色白。从入合二。二，陰數。，古文白。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.625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)