Dong Chinese dictionary

qià

just

attentive, diligent

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 合 represents the sound.

Components

忄 Meaning component

xin, xīn

heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

忄 hints at the original meaning of 恰, "attentive, diligent", which is no longer the most common meaning of 恰 in modern Mandarin.

合 Sound component

hé, gě

to join

恰 and 合 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

qià

just, exactly, precisely; proper; exactly; just

Most common words with 恰

Sources