变
biàn · HSK 2
change
🔄 sounds like 'bian' — think of a 'bend' that changes a road's direction
变 (biàn) sounds close to English 'bend', and bending something is a small act of changing it. The character itself once depicted hands reorganising tangled silk threads — literally re-ordering, i.e. transforming.
变 — top 䜌 (phonetic) + bottom 又 (hand)
Originally written 變, a phonosemantic compound: 䜌 (luán) gives the sound while 攵 (a hand with a stick) suggested the action of changing or transforming. The simplified form 变 keeps the phonetic top in reduced shape over 又 (hand). Core meaning: to change, transform, or alter.