Definitions

chuán to hurry; to go to and fro

Etymology phono-semantic

walk

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

is a phono-semantic compound combining the movement radical on the outside with the phonetic component inside. The radical indicates an action of walking, traveling, or progressing along a path, and the character means to hurry, move swiftly, or travel rapidly back and forth. The inner component originally depicted the roots or beginning of a plant, but here it functions solely as a phonetic loan, lending the motion a sense of speed and urgency.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical etymology image
Clerical Cao Wei (Three Kingdoms: 222-280 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern