橙腹叶鹎
chéng​fù​yè​bēi

orange-bellied leafbird

橙 chéng, dèng orange

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

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
登
登 Sound component
dēng rise

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrɛng[d]ˤrəŋcitrus tree (Shuōwén)
Zhengzhangtɯːŋs
rdɯːŋ
Unicodedjhɛng

說文解字

橘屬。从木登聲。

Sources

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

腹 fù stomach

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

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

复
复 Sound component
fù return

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwkp(r)ukbelly
Zhengzhangpuɡ
Unicodebiuk

說文解字

厚也。从肉复聲。

Sources

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

叶 yè be in harmony, leaf Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound. Originally a variant of 協 (cooperate). Later used as the simplified form of the phonetically similar character 葉 (leaf).

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth

Based on the meaning "cooperate", "be in harmony". Unrelated to "leaf".

十
十 Sound component
shí ten
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode

鹎 bēi Pycnonotus species (various) Simplified

Components

卑
卑 Sound component
bēi humble, inferior
鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

葉 yè leaf Traditional

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

枼
枼 SoundMeaning component
yè leaf

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 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-Sagartyepl[a]p leaf

說文解字

《說文》：“葉，艸木之葉也。从艸，枼聲。”

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)

鵯 Pycnonotus species (various) Traditional

Components

卑
卑 Sound component
bēi humble, inferior
鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpe
pʰiɡ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang