hǎi​hóng

mussel

hǎi sea

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

is a component form of .

Sound component
měi every
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxojXm̥ˤəʔ (dialect *m̥ˤ- > x-)sea

說文解字

《說文》:“海,天池也,以納百川者。从水,每聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

hóng, hòng, gòng rainbow

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Originally was a pictograph of a creature, with two heads on each end, that resembled a rainbow.

Components

Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
Sound component
gōng work

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthuwngm-kˤoŋ rainbow
kaewngHkˤroŋ-s rainbow

說文解字

《說文》:“虹,螮蝀也。狀似蟲。从虫,工聲。《明堂》、《月令》曰:‘虹始見。’”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica