藍 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

lánLán HSK2

blue, indigo plant

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

Components

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

監 Sound component

jiān watch carefully

Change in sound

藍 and 監 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
藍 *[N-k.]rˤam
監 *[k]ˤram

Regular Modern

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	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	lam	[N-k.]rˤam	indigo

《說文》：“藍，染青草也。从艸，監聲。”

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 监 represents the sound. Simplified form of 藍.

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

监 Sound component

jiān watch carefully

Change in sound

蓝 and 监 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
蓝 *[N-k.]rˤam
监 *[k]ˤram