柳陌花衢
liǔ​mò​huā​qú

brothel

柳 liǔ willow tree

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 卯 represents the sound. Simplified form of 栁.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
卯
卯 Sound component
mǎo 4th terrestrial branch

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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-SagartljuwX([m]ə.)ruʔwillow
Zhengzhangm·ruʔ
Unicodeliǒu

Sources

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

陌 mò foot path between rice fields

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 百 represents the sound.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place
百
百 Sound component
bǎi one hundred
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmaek[m]ˤrak path between fields

Sources

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

花 huā, hua flower

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 化 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

化
化 Sound component
huà change

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwaeqʷʰˤra flower (n.)

Sources

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

衢 qú highway

Components

行
行 Meaning component
xíng, háng walk

step

瞿
瞿 Sound component
qú, jù, jí surname

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡʷa
Unicodeghio

說文解字

四達謂之衢。从行瞿聲。

Sources

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