颠 (diān) — to jolt, to bump (e.g. a vehicle moving unevenly); to topple, to overturn (a regime, system, etc.); (colloquial) to scram, to run away
Definition
颠 (diān) is the verb behind the compound 颠覆 ('to overturn'). Literally it means to jolt or topple, and colloquially it means to scram — different senses sharing a chaotic 'flipping' feel.
verb
to joltto bump (e.g. a vehicle moving unevenly)to toppleto overturn (a regime, system, etc.)(colloquial) to scramto run away
Examples
- ，颠。Zhè tiáo lù kēng kēng wā wā, chē hěn diān.This road is full of potholes — the car jolts a lot.
- 。Pàn jūn shì tú diān fù zhèng fǔ.The rebels attempted to topple the government.
- ，颠。Jǐng chá lái le, tā gǎn jǐn diān le.The police came, and he quickly scrammed.
Origin
Sound + meaning六书liùshū
形声xíngshēngMost characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.
This origin belongs to the traditional form 顛; 颠 is its simplified writing.
Meaning part形符xíngfú
頁頁yèhead
Sound part声符shēngfú
真
真zhēn顛diān
The sound has drifted apartThe sound part was a clue two thousand years ago — it often still helps, but not always.
The traditional form 顛 combines 頁, a head, with 真 as a sound clue; the simplified 颠 is a later shorthand, and its parts are not the historical pieces.
Appears in
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