摇尾乞怜
yáo​wěi​qǐ​lián

fawn

摇 yáo wag, shake Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 䍃 represents the sound. Simplified form of 搖.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

䍃
䍃 Sound component
yáo, yóu vase, pitcher

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodeiɛu

Sources

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

尾 wěi tail

Depicts fur (毛) protruding from the posterior of a person (尸) wearing a decorative tail.

Components

尸
尸 Iconic component
shī sitting person

Depicts a person sitting or squatting.

毛
毛 Iconic component
máo, mao hair

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

属屈艉屬

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

犀娓艉

Remnant (1)

屈

Iconic (1)

隶

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmj+jX[m]əjʔ tail

說文解字

《說文》：“尾，微也。从到毛在尸後。古人或飾系尾，西南夷亦然。”

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)

乞 qǐ, qì beg

Original meaning: air

Originally a variant of 气, which depicts a gust of air. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 11 verified)

吃迄疙屹圪讫虼矻汔扢訖

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

纥紇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhj+tC.qʰət beg, ask

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.58-59漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

怜 lián pity Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 令 represents the sound. Simplified form of 憐.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

令
令 Sound component
lìng command

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangriːn
reːŋ

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

搖 yáo wag, shake Traditional

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

䍃
䍃 Sound component
yáo, yóu vase, pitcher

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyewlaw shake

說文解字

《說文》：“搖，動也。从手，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)

憐 lián pity Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 粦 represents the sound.

Components

忄
忄 Meaning component
xin, xīn heart

heart

粦
粦 Sound component
lín will-o'-the wisp, phosphorus

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlenrˤiŋ love; pity

說文解字

《說文》：“憐，哀也。从心，粦聲。”

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)