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joyous

HSK 10
huān
カン
よろこ.ぶ
Phonosemantic compound. 欠 represents the meaning and 雚 represents the sound. 欠 (yawn) is a pictograph of a person with an open mouth, used here to represent a person joyfully laughing.
Components
Traditional (歡)
small+ deficient =
joyous
Phonetic component
guàn small
a heron
View phonetic series →
Iconic component
qiàn deficient
owe, lack, be deficient
Depicts a person opening their mouth to laugh.
Simplified (欢)
again+ deficient =
happy
Simplified component
yòu again
and, also, again, in addition
Shorthand for the 雚 component in the traditional character 歡.
Iconic component
qiàn deficient
owe, lack, be deficient
Depicts a person opening their mouth to laugh.
Notes
Historical Evolution
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Seal
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Clerical
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)
Regular
Modern
Chinese
/ [huān]
joyous; happy; pleased
Japanese
かん 同音
noun joy; enjoyment; delight; pleasure
Example Sentences
Japanese Names
かん
Kan unclassified name