diào, tiáo
adjust, tune
Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 周 represents the sound.
Evolution

Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
diào
transfer, move, change; tune; to transfer; to move (troops or cadres); to investigate; to enquire into; accent; view; argument; key (in music); mode (music); tone; melody
tiáo
to harmonize; to reconcile; to blend; to suit well; to adjust; to regulate; to season (food); to provoke; to incite
Historical pronunciation
Old Chinese | Middle Chinese | Pinyin | Gloss |
*[d]ˤiw | dew | tiáo | tune (v.), adjust |
Statistics
Not found in HSK word list
Appears in 69.4538% of movies
473rd most common character in movies
400th most common character in books
Miscellaneous
Strokes | 15 |
Simplified | |
Unicode | U+8ABF |
Shuowen | “調,和也。从言,周聲。” |
Sources
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