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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

環

huán
circle; ring; hoop
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 3
  • radical 玉
  • 17 strokes

Etymology graph

  • inherited
  • borrowed
  • derived
  • parts
  • meaning component
  • sound component
  • related
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Origin

Etymology 1

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡʷraːn): semantic 玉 (“jade”) + phonetic 睘 (OC *ɡʷeŋ).

Note similarities to Proto-Tibeto-Burman *hwaŋ (“to encircle; circular, fence”), whence Burmese ဝင်း (wang:, “enclosure, compound”). See also Thai แหวน (wɛ̌ɛn, “ring”), which may derive from a borrowing from the Middle Chinese form.

Etymology 2

From Cantonese 灣／湾 (waan1-4, “bay”), used in certain place names. The low-falling tone change is possibly borrowed from Siyi Yue (Lau and Tang, 2020).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • meaningChinese玉 “jade (originally nephrite, now also including jadeite)”
  • soundChinese睘 “to look frightenedly”
    • meaningChinese目 “eye (Classifier: 雙／双 mn-t)”
    • soundChinese袁 “long”
      • ideaChinese衣 “garment; clothes; clothing (Classifier: 件)”
      • ideaChinese又 “again; once more”
  • derivedCantonese灣／湾 “bay”

Related: Proto-Tibeto-Burman *hwaŋ, Burmese ဝင်း, Thai แหวน

Words built on it: 環境

Meanings

character
  1. circle; ring; hoop
  2. link
  3. to surround
  4. ring (a group of atoms linked by bonds to form a closed chain in a molecule)
  5. ring
  6. a surname

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

環:璧也。肉好若一謂之環。从玉，睘聲。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 以玉石雕琢成中央有孔的圓形玉器。 例：玉環
  2. 泛稱圓圈形的東西。 例：門環、耳環、花環
  3. 圍繞。 例：環繞、環球、環島
  4. 指許多相關事物中的關鍵處。 例：這個計畫能否如期完成，工作人員的配合是很重要的一環。

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

How 環 was written 字形演變

  1. 環 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  2. 環 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  3. 環 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  4. 環 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

  • 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: 環