fān
noun HSK 7-9 #10,907

Measure Word

一面 miàn

Meanings

  1. 1 sail

Characters

Examples

Fēng bǎ fān chuī de gǔgǔde.
The wind filled the sail.
Yīfānfēngshùn shì dàjiā duì nǐ de zhùfú.
'Smooth sailing' is everyone's blessing to you.

Tips

memory
contains (cloth) and (fán, ordinary) which gives the sound. A sail is essentially a piece of cloth catching the wind.

Components

radical
jīn
cloth; towel
Left cloth radical — a pictograph of fabric hanging from a sash. Carries the meaning: a is a sail, a great sheet of cloth catching the wind. Indexes in the textile family with cloth, curtain, hat, tent.
phonetic
fán
ordinary; every (here phonetic)
Right side supplies the sound — fán → fān with tone shift only. The 'ordinary' meaning is not active; is purely a sound tag. Interestingly itself was an old pictograph of a sail-like frame, so the choice carries a faint visual echo even though etymology is loose.

Stroke Order

fān