般乐
pán​lè

amuse oneself

般 bān sort

Original meaning: tray

Phonosemantic compound. 殳 represents the meaning and 凡 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "tray", now written as 盤/槃. The current meaning is a phonetic loan. The original 凡 component was later corrupted to 舟 (boat).

Components

凡
凡 SoundIconic component
fán all

Pictograph of a tray. Later corrupted to 舟.

殳
殳 Meaning component
shū weapon or tool

Depicts a hand holding a weapon or utensil.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 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 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 5 verified)

搬磐瘢盤槃

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpraːn
paːn
baːn

說文解字

《說文》：“般，辟也。象舟之旋，从舟，从殳。殳，所以旋也。，古文般从支。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

乐 lè, yuè happy, music Simplified

Pictograph of an ancient wooden stringed musical instrument. The simplified character 乐 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 樂.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 6 verified)

砾栎跞铄泺轹

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

烁

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

樂 lè, yuè happy, music Traditional

Depicts an ancient wooden stringed musical instrument. 白 represents the sound.

Components

幺
幺 Iconic component
yāo tiny

Depicts a string.

白
白 Sound component
bái, bai white
Change in sound
幺
幺 Iconic component
yāo tiny

Depicts a string.

木
木 Iconic component
mù tree

Depicts the wooden base of a musical instrument.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

藥櫟瓅鑠

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

爍

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlak[r]ˤawk to cure
lak[r]ˤawk joy; enjoy
ngaewH[ŋ]ˤrawk-s cause to rejoice
ngaewk[ŋ]ˤrawk music

說文解字

《說文》：“樂，五聲八音緫名。象鼓鞞。木，虡也。”

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)