泛 (fán) — (literary) to float; to be suffused with; (bound form) broad; general; not specific; pan-; (bound form) to flood; to overflow

Definition

As a bound morpheme, 泛 (fàn-) adds the sense of 'broad, general, pan-' (广泛, 泛指). It also appears in literary senses meaning 'to float/overflow' (泛滥). Almost always part of a compound.

bound form
(literary) to floatto be suffused withbroadgeneralnot specificpan-to floodto overflow
Easily confused

Examples

  • ，。
    Hé shuǐ fán làn, yān mò le nóng tián.
    The river flooded, submerging the farmland.
  • 。
    Zhè ge guān diǎn dé dào le guǎng fán de zhī chí.
    This viewpoint received widespread support.
  • ，。
    Tā zhǐ shì fán fán ér tán, méi yǒu jù tǐ nèi róng.
    He just spoke in generalities with no specific content.

Origin

Sound + meaning
六书liùshū
形声xíngshēng

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

Meaning part形符xíngfú
氵Written in full as水shuǐ
Sound part声符shēngfú
乏
乏fá泛fàn
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.

泛 pairs 氵 (water) with 乏, which gives the sound.

Appears in
Abstract Concepts

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