半bàn

半

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简体

Simplified Chinese

Modern simplified form (簡體). 半 (bàn, "half") remains unchanged from its traditional counterpart, its ancient pictograph showing an ox (牛) with a horizontal line through it — a visual metaphor for cutting something into two equal parts. As a component it appears in 胖 (fat), 判 (judge), and 叛 (rebel), each building on the concept of division or separation.

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Shuowen

Half. The oracle bone form depicts a knife or blade cutting through the middle of an object, separating it into two parts—the original image of division. The later script formalizes this with 八 (to divide) above and 牛 (cow) below, though this may reflect later semantic elaboration rather than the original intent. The character fundamentally expresses the concept of one of two equal parts into which something is divided.

Pinyin

bàn· HSK 1

半bàn

Character evolution

Shuowen

Pinyin