伶鼬
líng​yòu

weasel

伶 ling lonely

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

令
令 Sound component
lìng command

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangreːŋ
Unicodeleng

說文解字

弄也。从人令聲。益州有建伶縣。

Sources

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

鼬 yòu weasel

Phonosemantic compound. 鼠 represents the meaning and 由 represents the sound.

Components

鼠
鼠 Meaning component
shǔ rat
由
由 Sound component
yóu cause

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhanglɯwɢs

說文解字

如鼠，赤黃而大，食鼠者。从鼠由聲。

Sources

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