靠
kào HSK2

lean on

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approved by Peter Olson · Sep 26, 2021, 11:41 PM · Reviewed by Peter Olson on Sep 26, 2021, 11:41 PM

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Changed fields: hint, originalMeaning, isVerified, components, customSources, strokeDataSimp, fragmentsSimp, historicalImages

Original meaning: conflict

Phonosemantic compound. 非 represents the meaning and 告 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "conflict". The meaning later shifted to "lean against".

Components

告
告 Sound component
非
非 Meaning component
Change in meaning
非 hints at the original meaning of 靠, "conflict", which is no longer the most common meaning of 靠 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰuːɡs

說文解字

《說文》：“靠，相違也。从非，告聲。”

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)