版 (bǎn): edition; version

Meanings

1 edition; version
2 page (of a newspaper)
3 printing plate

Characters

版

bǎn

edition; version; printing plate

片 (slice) + 反 (reverse) — a printing plate that prints in reverse

Examples

这本书出了新版。

Zhè běnshū chū le xīnbǎn.

This book has come out in a new edition.

请下载最新版的软件。

Qǐng xiàzài zuìxīn bǎn de ruǎnjiàn.

Please download the latest version of the software.

这个新闻登在了头版。

Zhège xīnwén dēng zài le tóubǎn.

This news was published on the front page.

中文版和英文版都有。

Zhōngwén bǎn hé Yīngwén bǎn dōu yǒu.

Both Chinese and English versions are available.

Tips

usage

版本 (bǎnběn) is the full word for 'version.' 版 alone works in compounds: 新版 (new edition), 原版 (original version), 盗版 (pirated version), 头版 (front page).

usage

版权 (bǎnquán) = copyright, 出版 (chūbǎn) = to publish, 盗版 (dàobǎn) = pirated copy.

Components

radical

片 piàn

slice; piece of wood

Left indexing radical 片 (split half of a tree) — marks 版 as something flat and wooden in origin: a printing block, a writing tablet, a board. Same radical groups thin-flat objects like 牌 (sign) and 牍 (writing tablet). The split-tree pictograph is the literal source of 'plank.'

phonetic

反 fǎn

reverse; turn over (here phonetic)

Right component 反 supplies the sound (fǎn → bǎn, with f-/b- drift in some series). Bonus semantic fit: a printing plate carries text in reverse so the print appears correct. The phonetic series includes 板 (board), 饭 (rice), 返 (return), 贩 (vendor).