北短翅莺
běi​duǎn​chì​yīng

Baikal bush warbler

北 běi north

Original meaning: back

Pictograph of two people standing back-to-back. Based on the original meaning "back", now written as 背. The current meaning "north" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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 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 of 2 verified)

背邶

Meaning (1 of 2 verified)

背冀

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpokpˤək north

說文解字

《說文》：“北，也。从二人相背。”

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)

短 duǎn short

Phonosemantic compound. 矢 represents the meaning and 豆 represents the sound.

Components

矢
矢 Meaning component
shǐ arrow
豆
豆 Sound component
dòu bean
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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-SagarttwanXtˤorʔ short

說文解字

《說文》：“短，有所長短，以矢為正。从矢，豆聲。”

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)

翅 chì wings

Phonosemantic compound. 羽 represents the meaning and 支 represents the sound. Simplified form of 翄.

Components

羽
羽 Meaning component
yǔ feather
支
支 Sound component
zhī support, hold up

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsyeHs-kʰe-swing
Zhengzhangqʰjes
Unicodeshiə̌

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

莺 yīng oriole Simplified

Simplified form of 鶯. Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 𤇾 represents the sound.

Components

𤇾
𤇾 SoundSimplified component
yìng glimmer
鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

鶯 oriole Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 𤇾 represents the sound.

Components

𤇾
𤇾 Sound component
yìng glimmer
鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqreːŋ
Unicodeqɛng

說文解字

《說文》：“鶯，鳥也。从鳥，榮省聲。《詩》曰：‘有鶯其羽。’”

Sources

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