洋葱
yáng​cōng

onion

洋 yáng ocean

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 羊 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

羊
羊 Sound component
yáng sheep

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyangɢ(r)aŋ 'great expanse of water'

說文解字

《說文》：“洋，水。出齊臨朐高山，東北入鉅定。从水，羊聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

葱 cōng scallions Simplified

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

grass

怱
怱 Sound component
cōng hastily

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰloːŋ
Unicodetsung

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

蔥 cōng scallions Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 悤 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

悤
悤 Sound component
cōng agitated

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttshuwng[ts]ʰˤoŋonion
Zhengzhangsʰloːŋ

說文解字

菜也。从艸悤聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)