补缺
bǔ​quē

supply a deficiency

补 bǔ mend, patch Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 衤 represents the meaning and 卜 represents the sound. Simplified form of 補.

Components

衤
衤 Meaning component
yī clothes

衤 is a component form of 衣.

卜
卜 Sound component
bo fortune telling

Sources

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

缺 quē be short of, lack

Original meaning: damaged object

Phonosemantic compound. 缶 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound.

Components

缶
缶 Meaning component
fǒu pottery
Change in meaning
缶 hints at the original meaning of 缺, "damaged object", which is no longer the most common meaning of 缺 in modern Mandarin.
夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhwetNə-[k]ʷʰˤet break; defective

說文解字

《說文》：“缺，器破也。从缶，決省聲。”

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)

補 bǔ mend, patch Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 衤 represents the meaning and 甫 represents the sound.

Components

衤
衤 Meaning component
yī clothes

衤 is a component form of 衣.

甫
甫 Sound component
fu begin

Character Evolution

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

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartpuX[Cə]-pˤaʔ to patch

說文解字

《說文》：“補，完衣也。从衣，甫聲。”

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)