吃藕
chī'ǒu

ugly

吃 chī eat

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 乞 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
乞
乞 Sound component
qǐ, qì beg

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkɯd

說文解字

《說文》：“吃，言蹇難也。从口，气聲。”

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)

藕 ǒu lotus root

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

plant

耦
耦 Sound component
ǒu plow side by side

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnguwXC.ŋˤ(r)oʔlotus root
Zhengzhangŋoːʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang