Character etymology for newbie "Pretty Clothes" 很

mandarinboy

September 07, 2008, 01:03 PM posted in General Discussion

Character: 很 

Pinyin: hěn

Meaning: very, quite, much

HSK level: 1 (basic)

Frequency: 175

Strokes: 9  

Radical part:  彳(step )

Etymology: The phonetic part (the right part) where originally written as

They eye means defiant and the lower part means to turn around. = stubborn, to refuse to look away. Today this is simplified to 艮 The left part (彳)that is the radical and means step . Together they mean very indicating the amont of steps needed to deal with such stuborness.

Stroke order: http://www.yellowbridge.com/chinese/character-stroke-order.php?searchChinese=1&zi=%E5%BE%88