嗷嗷待哺
áo'áo​dài​bǔ

famished

嗷 áo loud clamor

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

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
敖
敖 Sound component
áo, aó, ào ramble, stroll, roam

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangŋaːw
Unicodengɑu

說文解字

眾口愁也。从口敖聲。《詩》曰：“哀鳴嗷嗷。”

Sources

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

待 dài wait, stay, treat

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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-SagartdojX[d]ˤəʔ wait on; depend on

說文解字

《說文》：“待，竢也。从彳，寺聲。”

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)

哺 bǔ chew food

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 甫 represents the sound. Simplified form of 餔.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
甫
甫 Sound component
fu begin

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbuH[b]ˤa-sfood held in the mouth
Zhengzhangbaːs
Unicodebhò

說文解字

哺咀也。从口甫聲。

Sources

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