奐

Han character

奐 (Kangxi radical 37, 大+6, 9 strokes, cangjie input 弓月大 (NBK), four-corner 2743₀, composition ⿳⺈⿵冂八大(G) or ⿳⺈𠔿大(HT) or ⿳⺈⿵冂儿大(JK))

1. be numerous
2. brilliant
3. a surname

Glyph origin

Phono-semantic compound (形聲 / 形声, OC *qʰʷaːns): abbreviated phonetic 夐 (OC *qʰʷeːns, *qʰʷeŋs) + semantic 廾. The upper part indicates both ancient pronunciation and the concept of "eminent" (it contains an eye and a stick in hand representing authority), while the two hands at the bottom of the character (then stylized as 大) convey the meaning of "numerous, copious, abundant" attested on oracle bones. It was also used to represent 換 (OC *ɢʷaːns, “to change; to swap”).

Alternatively ideogrammic compound (會意 / 会意): 穴 (“yurt”) + 廾 (“hands”) a pair of hands opening a yurt door to let in sunlight, hence there could be a potential shift of meaning from "brilliant".

A third interpretation by Xun Zaiguo (徐在國) explains that the character indicates "to steal" or "to take objects from other people's houses", i.e., a yurt from which two hands steal/take something. This interpretation could be linked to "numerous", but it is difficult to link to "brilliant".

Pronunciation

Definitions

奐

1. brilliant
2. numerous, copious, abundant

References

• 莆田市荔城区档案馆 [Putian City Licheng District Archives], editor (2022), “奂”, in 莆仙方言文读字汇 [Puxian Dialect Literary Reading Dictionary] (overall work in Mandarin and Puxian Min), page 93.

Kanji

(Hyōgai kanji)

1. clear
2. bright

Hanja

奐 • (binnal hwan) (hangeul 빛날 환, revised hwan, McCune–Reischauer hwan)

1. be numerous, brilliant

Han character

奐: Hán Nôm readings: hoán

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