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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

真

zhēn
true; genuine; real; actual
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 1
  • radical 目
  • 10 strokes

Etymology graph

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Origin

In bronze inscriptions, the character is a phono-semantic compound consisting of the semantic component 貝 (cowrie or shell) and the phonetic component 𠂈. The component 𠂈 is the original pictograph of 顛 (reconstructed as *tˤiŋ), meaning to fall headlong. During the late Western Zhou period, some forms appear using 鼎 instead of 貝. Oracle-bone forms composed of 匕 (spoon) and 鼎 have been read by some scholars as 真, though others interpret them as 肆 or 煮.

In Chu bamboo-slip script, forms containing 鼎 became dominant. The legs of 鼎 gradually became graphically confused with 火, and the lower strokes in Qin-slip and later forms of 真 may be reduced from 火. An elaborated form with an added 丌 at the bottom is attested in the Zeng Hou Yi bamboo slips. The character is a cognate of the Tibetan བདེན (true; truth) and is possibly connected with 貞 (reconstructed as *teŋ).

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

「真」字屬於形聲字。在青銅器銘文中，其構成包含表示「貝」（海貝）的語義成分，以及「𠂈」的音符。而「𠂈」是「顛」（上古音 *tˤiŋ）的原型象形字。在西周晚期，也有以「鼎」取代「貝」的字形出現。甲骨文形式則由「匕」與「鼎」組成，部分學者將其讀作「真」，但也有人認為應解釋為「肆」或「煮」。

在楚簡中，以「鼎」為主的字形成為主流。隨著演變，「鼎」的足部逐漸與「火」產生圖形上的混淆；秦簡及後續「真」字的下部橫劃、左撇與點，可能由「火」簡化而成。曾侯乙竹簡中則出現了底部增加「丌」的複雜形式。在語源上，「真」可能與「貞」（上古音 *teŋ）有關，並與藏文 བདེན（意為「真實」）同源。

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

Lineage

  • meaningChinese貝 “shellfish; cowrie”
  • soundChinese𠂈

Related: Tibetan བདེན

Words built on it: 真的, 真正, 填, 真理, 天真, 鎮

Wiktionary etymology text

Bronze inscriptions: Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, *tiŋ): semantic 貝 (“cowrie; shell”) + phonetic 𠂈 (*tˤiŋ). 𠂈 is the original pictograph of 顛 (OC *tˤiŋ) (“to fall headlong”). From the late Western Zhou period, forms with 鼎 (dǐng) instead of 貝 are also attested.

Oracle-bone forms are composed of 匕 (bǐ) (“spoon”) and 鼎 (dǐng). These have been read by some scholars as 真 (zhēn), but some of them are better interpreted as 肆 (sì) or 煮 (zhǔ).

In Chu bamboo-slip script, forms with 鼎 (dǐng) became dominant. The legs of 鼎 (dǐng) gradually became graphically confused with 火 (huǒ), and the lower horizontal stroke, left-falling stroke, and dot in Qin-slip and later forms of 真 (zhēn) may be reduced from 火 (huǒ). In the Zeng Hou Yi bamboo slips, an elaborated form with an added 丌 (jī) at the bottom is also attested.

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan; cognate with Tibetan བདེན (bden, “true; truth”). Possibly connected with 貞 (OC *teŋ) (Schuessler, 2007).

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. true; genuine; real; actual
  2. clear; distinct; sharp
  3. really; truly; very; quite
  4. portrait; image
  5. natural disposition
  6. (telegraphy) the eleventh day of a month

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 自然、本性。 例：天真、返璞歸真
  2. 原來的樣子。 例：寫真、傳真、失真
  3. 本來的、不虛假的。與「假」相對。 例：真相、真心、真理
  4. 的確、實在。 例：真好、真棒

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

How 真 was written 字形演變

  1. 真 in Bronze script
    Bronze
    金文
    Shang–Zhou
  2. 真 in Chu slips & silk script
    Chu slips & silk
    楚系簡帛
    Warring States
  3. 真 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  4. 真 in Clerical script
    Clerical
    隸書
    Han
  5. 真 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
  • Written form — n/a
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 真