精讲多练
jīng​jiǎng​duō​liàn

succinct lecture-practice

精 jīng essence

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

Components

米
米 Meaning component
mǐ rice
青
青 Sound component
qīng green or blue

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsjengtseŋ fine rice; pure

說文解字

《說文》：“精，擇也。从米，青聲。”

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)

讲 jiǎng explain Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 讠 represents the meaning and 井 represents the sound. Simplified form of 講.

Components

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

井
井 Sound component
jǐng well

Sources

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

多 duō much

Depicts two pieces of meat together to convey the meaning "much" or "plentiful". In ancient China meat was a rare treat. Unrelated to 夕.

Components

肉
肉 Iconic component
ròu meat

Depicts a piece of meat.

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

Depicts a piece of meat.

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

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

移爹侈哆黟眵

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

够夥奓夠

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartta[t.l]ˤaj many

說文解字

《說文》：“多，重也。从重夕。夕者，相繹也，故為多。重夕為多，重日為。，古文多。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.557
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

练 liàn practice Simplified

Original meaning: boil and scour raw silk

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 柬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "boil and scour raw silk" to make it softer and whiter. The meaning later shifted to "to make perfect" and "to practice". Simplified form of 練.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

Change in meaning
纟 hints at the original meaning of 练, " boil and scour raw silk", which is no longer the most common meaning of 练 in modern Mandarin.
柬
柬 SoundSimplified component
jiǎn letter

Derived from the cursive form of the traditional 柬 component.

Sources

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

講 jiǎng explain Traditional

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

Components

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
冓
冓 Sound component
gòu, gōu a secluded place
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkaewngXkˤroŋʔ explain; discuss

說文解字

《說文》：“講，和解也。从言，冓聲。”

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)

練 liàn practice Traditional

Original meaning: boil and scour raw silk

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 柬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "boil and scour raw silk" to make it softer and whiter. The meaning later shifted to "to make perfect" and "to practice".

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

Change in meaning
糹 hints at the original meaning of 練, "boil and scour raw silk", which is no longer the most common meaning of 練 in modern Mandarin.
柬
柬 Sound component
jiǎn letter

Character Evolution

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlenH[r]ˤen-s sized white silk

說文解字

《說文》：“練，湅繒也。从糸，柬聲。”

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)