难
難nàn
#295 most
frequent character
disaster, distress, to scold
Character breakdown
Source: Make Me a Hanzi.
难 first meant a kind of bird; 隹 bird is the meaning part. The old sound part 漢 without 氵 is now written 又, an empty part whose sound link is unclear today. The sense 'difficult' was borrowed for its sound, and from there came 'trouble' for nán and 'disaster' for nàn.
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