模棱
mó​léng

ambiguous

模 mó, mú model

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 莫 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
莫
莫 Sound component
mò, mo do not

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-Sagartmumˤa model

說文解字

《說文》：“模，法也。从木，莫聲。讀若嫫母之嫫。”

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)

棱 léng squared timber Simplified

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree

wood

夌
夌 Sound component
líng to surpass, to ascend

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangrɯːŋ
Unicodeləng
lə̀ng

說文解字

柧也。从木夌聲。

Sources

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

稜 léng, lèng corner Traditional

Components

禾
禾 Meaning component
hé grain stalk

grain

夌
夌 Sound component
líng to surpass, to ascend

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangrɯːŋ
Unicodeləng

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica