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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.

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Chinese

花

huā
flower; blossom (Classifier: 朵 m c; 支 m c; 蕊 h mn; 束 m c; 把 m; 盆 m c; 簇 m; 紮／扎 c)
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 4
  • TOCFL 2
  • radical 艸
  • 8 strokes
  • 華
  • 蘤
  • 华

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  • derived
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Origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *hʷraː): semantic 艹 (“grass; plant”) + phonetic 化 (OC *hŋʷraːls). Originally 𠌶 or 華 before the Han dynasty.

Unclear.

Possibly of Sino-Tibetan origin. Schuessler (2007) derives it from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *baːr (“bloom, flower”) and thus an example of possible *b ~ *w variation, with final -r moved to medial position. If so, cognate with 葩 (MC phae); outside Sinitic, compare Burmese ပန်း (pan:), Lepcha ᰓᰫᰲ (búr), Mizo páar, etc. Sagart (2021) also connects it to 葩 (OC *pʰˤra), modifying Baxter and Sagart's (2014) reconstruction to *Cə-pʰˤra and proposing the sound changes *Cə-pʰ- > *Cə-ɸ- > *ɸ- > xw-.

Sagart & Baxter (2024) reconstruct 荂 (OC *pʰra) ~ 葩 (OC *pʰˤra) and 荂 (OC *X.pʰra) ~ 花 (OC *X.pʰˤra) (with unknown prefix *X turning labial stops into Middle Chinese fricative initials in 荂 (MC xju) ~ 花 (MC xwae)) (which might have already happened by the time of the Western Zhou dynasty, as shown by the presence of the 于 (OC *ɢʷa) radical in its earliest form 𦻏). Furthermore, they propose cognacy to Proto-Karen *phɔᴬ (“flower”) and reconstruct Proto-Sino-Tibetan *p(h)a (“idem”). Outside Sino-Tibetan, they propose cognacy to Proto-Austronesian *pahpah (“flower, petal; leaf”).

Alternatively, from Austroasiatic; compare Proto-Austroasiatic *bka(ː)ʔ (“flower”) (Schuessler, 2007).

華 (OC *ɡʷraː, “to flower”) is a derivative.

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Lineage

  • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*baːr “bloom, flower”
    • inheritedProto-Sino-Tibetan*p(h)a “idem”
  • meaningChinese艸 “grass”
  • soundChinese化 “to change; to transform”

Related: Burmese ပန်း, Lepcha ᰓᰫᰲ, Mizo páar, Proto-Karen *phɔᴬ, Proto-Austronesian *pahpah, Proto-Austroasiatic *bka(ː)ʔ

Meanings

character
  1. flower; blossom (Classifier: 朵 m c; 支 m c; 蕊 h mn; 束 m c; 把 m; 盆 m c; 簇 m; 紮／扎 c)
  2. florid; flowery
  3. pattern; design
  4. blurred
  5. fireworks
  6. essence; cream

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 種子植物的繁殖器官。由花瓣、花萼、花托、花蕊組合，可供人觀賞。 例：菊花、梅花、桃花　◎
  2. 形狀像花的物體。 例：浪花、雪花、爆米花
  3. 比喻女人。 例：姊妹花、交際花、尋花問柳
  4. 有圖紋的、雜色的。 例：花邊、花布、花貓
  5. 式樣、種類繁多的。 例：花絮、花式
  6. 虛假的、巧妙的。 例：花招、花言巧語

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

How 花 was written 字形演變

  1. 花 in Qin slips script
    Qin slips
    秦系簡牘
    Qin
  2. 花 in Small seal script
    Small seal
    說文小篆
    Shuowen, c. 100 CE
  3. 花 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
  • Wiktionary (via Wiktextract / kaikki.org) — CC BY-SA 4.0
  • Wiktionary: 花