■ radical

dāng

appropriate

How it’s built

Phonosemantic compound. 田 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound. The contribution of the 田 (field) component to the meaning is unclear. The simplified character 当 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 當.

田

simplified

field — Shorthand for the 田 component in the traditional character 當.

尚

simplified

value; esteem — Shorthand for the 尚 component in the traditional character 當.

Through the ages

Traditional script

Cursive script

Appears in

Characters that use 当 as a component, most common first.

档dàngshelve 裆dāngthe crotch or seat of a pair of pants 铛dāngfrying pan