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

HSK 3

这辆车是自动档的。

Zhè liàng chē shì zìdòng dàng de.

This car has an automatic transmission.

HSK 4

这个产品是高档的。

Zhège chǎnpǐn shì gāodàng de.

This product is high-end.

HSK 5

这些珍贵的历史档案保存得十分完整。

Zhèxiē zhēnguì de lìshǐ dàng'àn bǎocún de shífēn wánzhěng.

These precious historical archives are preserved very intact.

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.