gòu​hé

copulate

gòu marry

To know a woman's  secret  also provides the pronunciation

Components

Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
SoundMeaning component
gòu, gōu a secluded place

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkuwHkˤ(r)o-s2nd marriage
Zhengzhangkoːs

說文解字

重㛰也。从女冓聲。《易》曰:“匪寇,㛰媾。”

Sources

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

hé, huo, he harmony

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
Sound component
grain stalk

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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-Sagarthwa[ɢ]ˤoj harmonious
hwaH[ɢ]ˤoj-s tune (instruments); respond in singing

說文解字

《說文》:“咊,相譍也。从口,禾聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica