耑 (zhuān) · the tip; the beginning; the end of a thing

Meanings

1 the tip; the beginning; the end of a thing
2 ancient variant of 端; also read duān in this sense
3 sole; specialised, = 专

Characters

耑

zhuān

tip; beginning; ancient 端

Examples

HSK 4

耑为此事而来。

Zhuān wèi cǐ shì ér lái.

I have come specially for this matter. (old-style writing)

HSK 7-9

耑此奉达，敬希察阅。

Zhuān cǐ fèng dá, jìng xī chá yuè.

I write specially to convey this, and respectfully ask you to read it. (formal letter closing)

Tips

history

Pictograph: top is sprouts pushing upward, bottom (而) shows roots fanning down - a plant viewed from the moment it breaks soil. The 'tip / first emergence' image gave both readings: duān 'the upright tip, the beginning' and zhuān 'concentrated, sole'. 耑 is the original; 端 is the later expansion (立 'stand' + 耑).

usage

Mostly literary today (formal letters still use 耑此 'I write specifically about this'). As a phonetic component it heads a family with the 'upright / hanging at one end' flavour: 端 (upright, end), 喘 (gasp - breath panting at its tip), 瑞 (auspicious jade tablet), 湍 (rapid current).

Components

semantic

山 shān

mountain (here: sprout above ground)

Top 3 strokes - graphically 山 (mountain), but historically the upper part of a sprouting plant: a young shoot with two branching tips emerging from the soil. The whole 耑 was the original picture of a seedling pushing up while roots reach down. Read as 'tip / sprout-top,' not literally 'mountain.'

semantic

而 ér

and; beard

Bottom 6 strokes - graphically 而 (which historically depicted a beard or whiskers), but in 耑 these strokes show the spreading roots beneath the soil line. The full character is one continuous picture: sprout above (山-shape), roots below (而-shape). 耑 is the original graph behind 端 (extremity) and 喘 (panting); the 'tip / extremity' sense lives on in those daughter chars.