档 (dàng): file; record; archive

Meanings

1 file; record; archive
2 grade; level
3 gear (of a vehicle)

Characters

档

dàng

file; grade; gear

Examples

这辆车是自动档的。

Zhè liàng chē shì zìdòng dàng de.

This car has an automatic transmission.

请把空调调高一档。

Qǐng bǎ kōngtiáo tiáo gāo yī dàng.

Please turn the AC up one notch.

这个产品是高档的。

Zhège chǎnpǐn shì gāodàng de.

This product is high-end.

Tips

usage

档 has several uses: 高档 (high-end), 低档 (low-end), 档次 (grade/level), 档案 (file/archive). For shifting gears the more common verb is 换挡 with 挡. A Taiwan pronunciation dǎng exists for the gear sense, but mainland use reads dàng throughout.

memory

The traditional form 檔 carries the wood radical 木, since records once lived on wooden filing shelves, so a 档案 is literally something stored on the timber rack.

Components

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

Left tree radical, the indexing radical for 档. The traditional 檔 was named for wooden filing shelves and partitions; archives historically lived in carved wooden cabinets. It shares the wood family with 桌, 板, and 柜, marking the character as carpentry or, by extension, a slot or grade in a graded structure.

phonetic

当 dāng

serve as; right (phonetic)

Right phonetic 当 supplies the sound almost exactly, dāng to dàng with just a tone change. It is itself simplified from 當. The same right side drives 挡 (to block) and 铛 (a bell sound). Its 'serve as / matching slot' flavour fits the grade, gear, and file-slot senses.