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Etymology data from Wiktionary via Wiktextract (CC BY-SA 4.0). Chinese character data from the 說文解字, the Taiwan MOE 國語辭典簡編本 (CC BY-ND 3.0 TW) and HSK/TOCFL lists.

Explanations are written by a local model (gemma4) and only published after a verification pass against the cited sources. How it works.

Chinese

問

wèn
to ask
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 口
  • 11 strokes

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Origin

The character 問 is a phono-semantic compound. It consists of the semantic component 口, meaning mouth, and the phonetic component 門, meaning gate or door. The Shuowen JIEZI glosses the character as 訊, stating it follows the components 口 and 門 for sound.

Schuessler (2007) suggests it is an exoactive derivation of 聞 (OC *mɯn, “to hear”) with the suffix *-s, which would literally mean "let (me) hear." The character appears in oracle, bronze, qin, seal, and regular scripts. Its meanings include asking for instruction on difficulties, interrogation, inquiring, and visiting or sending respects.

Confidence: high · written by gemma4:26b, checked statement-by-statement against the sources below.

Lineage

  • soundChinese門 “gate; door; entrance; opening; portal (Classifier: 扇 m mn; 道 m c; 度 c; 條／条 c; 隻／只 c; 片 mn)”
  • meaningChinese口 “mouth, especially the lips and internal mouth cavity (Classifier: 把 c)”

Words built on it: 問題, 請問

Wiktionary etymology text

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *mɯns): phonetic 門 (OC *mɯːn) + semantic 口.

Exoactive derivation of 聞 (OC *mɯn, “to hear”) with suffix *-s, literally "let (me) hear" (Schuessler, 2007). See there for more.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. to ask
  2. to inquire about; to ask about
  3. to send one's regards; to send one's respects; to greet; to ask how someone is; to show concern to someone
  4. to try; to interrogate; to subject to an inquest
  5. to call to account; to hold to account; to take to task
  6. to interfere; to intervene; to meddle

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

問：訊也。从口門聲。

Xu Shen, c. 100 CE — the first analytical dictionary of Chinese characters.

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 向人請教疑難。 例：詢問、發問、不恥下問
  2. 審訊、追究。 例：問罪、問案
  3. 打聽、干預。 例：不聞不問、概不過問
  4. 探訪、拜候。 例：慰問、問安、問候

© Ministry of Education, Taiwan — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW, shown unaltered.

How 問 was written 字形演變

  1. 問 in Oracle bone script
    Oracle bone
    甲骨文
    Shang, c. 1250–1050 BCE
  2. 問 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  3. 問 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  4. 問 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  5. 問 in Regular script
    Regular
    楷書
    since c. 200 CE

Historical forms collected by the legacy etymfun dataset; most characters have several attested variants.

Sources

  • etymagent (local gemma4:26b) — Generated
  • Historical glyph forms (zdic.net 字形演变) — Rights unverified
  • HSK / TOCFL word lists — Facts (levels)
  • 教育部《國語辭典簡編本》 (Taiwan MOE) — CC BY-ND 3.0 TW
  • 說文解字 Shuowen Jiezi (Xu Shen, c. 100 CE) — Public domain
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 問