捋胳膊
luō​gē​bo

roll up sleeves

捋 lǚ, luō to pluck

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 寽 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

寽
寽 SoundMeaning component
lǜ, lüè to take, to seize

寽 also acts as a meaning component.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlwat[r]ˤot gather, pluck

說文解字

《說文》：“捋，取易也。从手，寽聲。”

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)

胳 gē armpit

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 各 represents the sound. Simplified form of 肐.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

各
各 Sound component
gè each

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkak[C.q]ˤakarmpit
Zhengzhangklaːɡ

說文解字

亦下也。从肉各聲。

Sources

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

膊 bo shoulders

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 尃 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

尃
尃 Sound component
fū, bù, fǔ state, announce

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartphakpʰˤakdismember
Zhengzhangpʰaːɡ

說文解字

薄脯，膊之屋上。从肉尃聲。

Sources

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