闻wén
Character evolution
闻
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Simplified · Today
繁体
Traditional Chinese
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Shuowen
闻 (wén) consists of the semantic radical 耳 (ěr, ear) on the left and the phonetic component 门 (mén, door) on the right, picturing an ear at a doorway. In oracle bone inscriptions the character shows an ear placed beside a door, symbolizing the act of listening at a gate and giving the original meaning 'to hear'. The door element later served as a phonetic clue, and the meaning broadened to 'news' or 'information' in classical Chinese.
Pinyin
wén· HSK 2