凄黯
qī'àn

dismal

凄 qī bitter cold Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 冫 represents the meaning and 妻 represents the sound. Simplified form of 淒.

Components

冫
冫 Meaning component
bīng ice

冫 is a component form of 冰.

妻
妻 Sound component
qī wife

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰiːl
Unicodetsei
tsei

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

黯 àn dark

Phonosemantic compound. 黑 represents the meaning and 音 represents the sound.

Components

黑
黑 Meaning component
hēi black
音
音 Sound component
yīn sound

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqrɯːm
qrɯːmʔ
Unicodeqæ̌m

說文解字

深黑也。从黑音聲。

Sources

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

淒 qī bitter cold Traditional

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

妻
妻 Sound component
qī wife

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰiːl
Unicodetsei

說文解字

雲雨起也。从水妻聲。《詩》曰：“有渰淒淒。”

Sources

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