短 duǎn — short, brief · English

短

duǎn

short, brief

At a glance · 短

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

短字小篆从矢豆声，为形声字；本义为长度不足、短。甲骨文未见。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

短本义为短、不长，引申为缺少。

Structure

形声字，左部『矢』为意符表长度标准，右部『豆』为声符。

At a glance

Pinyinduǎn

Radical矢

Strokes12

UnicodeU+77ED

Character type形声

Theme状态

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English short, brief Duan is a phonetic-semantic character meaning short and brief.

Français court, bref Duan est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant court et bref.

Español corto, breve Duan es un carácter fonosemántico que significa corto y breve.

العربية قصير، وجيز دوان حرف صوتي دلالي يعني القصير والوجيز.

Русский короткий, краткий Дуань — фоносемантический знак, означающий короткий и краткий.

Common words

长短cháng duǎnlength
短处duǎn chùshortcoming

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