夕

xi

evening, night, dusk

picture of a crescent moon

卜

bo

predict, foretell; divine, divination

depicting cracks in heated turtle shells used for divination

外

wai

outside, foreign

external

外面 outside surface; 外部 external part (e.g., external structure)

外星人 alien (lit. outer space person); 外国人 foreigner;

外语 foreign language 外交 diplomacy (lit. external interactions)

Under the moon (夕), the diviner (卜) seeks answers from the outside (外) world

夜

ye

night, evening

深夜 late night

under a roof (亠) a person (亻) needs to walk slowly (夂) to avoid stuffs (丶) since the room is dark as a night

name; reputation

你叫什么名字？What is your name? 名声 reputation

In the middle of a dark night (夕), to call out (口) somebody by his name

山

shan

mountain

Represents a mountain with summit and ridges in different heights.

岁

sui

year, years old

岁月 Years and months (time’s passage)

岁月不饶人。Time waits for no one.

to reach the top of the mountain (山) till the transition period between day and evening (夕) takes years of preparations

夗

yuan

physical submission

A person (⺈) under the moon (夕) kneeling (卩) in submission (夗)

Rarely used in modern Chinese; replaced by 怨 (yuàn), 宛 (wǎn), or 渊 (yuān)

宛

wan

as if, resembling

graceful; winding

宛如 just like, as though; 宛若 as if (literary)

宛转 tactful or meandering (e.g., a winding path or euphemistic speech)

at evening a person at home is rolling around safely as if he is comfortably in a womb

多

duo

many, much

很多 many, a lot; 过多 too much; 多美啊！How beautiful!

很多人 many people

Two slices of meat (夕夕) make many (多)!

石

shi

stone, rock, mineral

石头 stone/rock (common spoken term)

岩石 cliff/rock (geological term)

宝石 gemstone/jewel (lit. treasure stone)

石油 petroleum/oil (lit. stone oil)

under a cliff there is a block of stone

碗

wan

bowl

stone (shi) + winding (wan)

a block of stone with a curved and a hollowed shape used as a bowl