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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

還

huán
to return to a place; to go back to a place
  • Phono-semantic compound 形聲
  • HSK 1
  • TOCFL 2
  • radical 辵
  • 17 strokes

Etymology graph

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

The character 還 is a phono-semantic compound. It combines the semantic component 辵, meaning "to walk for a while and be still for a while," with the phonetic component 睘. According to the Shuowen Jiezi, the character is composed of 辵 and 睘 for sound, and it means "to return." The earliest attested scripts for this character include bronze, chu, seal, and regular scripts.

The semantic component 辵 contains the components 彳 ("to walk slowly") and 止 ("foot"). The phonetic component 睘, meaning "to look frightenedly," contains the semantic component 目 ("eye") and the phonetic component 袁 ("long").

As a character, 還 can mean to return to a place, to go back, to return an object, to give back, to do or give something in return, or to treat separately. It can also mean to return to an original state, to hand back borrowed goods, or to repay or take revenge. As an adverb, it means "still," "also," or indicates whether an action will or will not be done.

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

「還」字屬於形聲構成。根據《說文解字》記載，此字從辵，瞏聲。在結構上，它由表示「走走停停」的語義部件「辵」與表示聲音的部件「睘」組成。其中，「辵」包含了「彳」（緩慢行走）與「止」（腳）的成分；而「睘」則是由「目」（眼睛）作為語義部件，並以「袁」作為音符，後者由「衣」與「又」組成。

在語義方面，「還」包含返回原處、歸還物品、回復狀態、回報或報復等多重含義。此外，它也能作為副詞使用，表達「還有」、「沒有」、「將要」或「不」等意思。此字最早見於青銅器、楚簡、篆書與楷書等文字形式。

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

Lineage

  • meaningChinese辵 “to walk for a while and be still for a while”
    • ideaChinese彳 “to walk slowly”
    • ideaChinese止 “foot”
  • 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”

Words built on it: 還是, 還有

Wiktionary etymology text

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 /形声, OC *ɡʷraːn, *sɢʷan): semantic 辵 (“walk”) + phonetic 睘 (OC *ɡʷeŋ) – to go back; to return.

; “to return”

; "still; also"

From Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Meanings

character
  1. to return to a place; to go back to a place
  2. to return an object; to give back
  3. to do or give something in return
  4. to treat separately
  5. to pay
  6. a surname
adv
  1. have or have not; do or do not; will or will not

Shuowen Jiezi 說文解字

還：復也。从辵瞏聲。

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

國語辭典 definitions

  1. 返回，回到原來的地方。 例：還鄉、生還、往還
  2. 恢復，回復到原來的狀態。 例：還俗、還原
  3. 交回、歸還所借用的財物。 例：還書、交還　◎
  4. 回報、報復。 例：還手、還擊、以牙還牙

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

How 還 was written 字形演變

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