灰胸鹪莺
huī​xiōng​jiāo​yīng

grey-breasted prinia

灰 huī ashes

Depicts a hand (又) picking ashes left over from a fire (火).

Components

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand
火
火 Iconic component
huǒ fire

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

恢盔诙咴詼

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwojm̥ˤə ashes

說文解字

《說文》：“灰，死火餘也。从火，从又。又，手也。火既滅，可以執持。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.890
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

胸 xiōng breast

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

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

匈
匈 SoundMeaning component
xiōng breast

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqʰoŋ
Unicodexiong

說文解字

《說文》：“匈，聲也。从勹，凶聲。，匈或从肉。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

鹪 jiāo wren Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 焦 represents the meaning and 鸟 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鷦.

Components

焦
焦 Sound component
jiāo burned
鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Sources

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

莺 yīng oriole Simplified

Simplified form of 鶯. Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 𤇾 represents the sound.

Components

𤇾
𤇾 SoundSimplified component
yìng glimmer
鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird

Sources

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

鷦 wren Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 焦 represents the meaning and 鳥 represents the sound.

Components

焦
焦 Sound component
jiāo burned
鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsew

說文解字

《說文》：“，，桃蟲也。从鳥，焦聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

鶯 oriole Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 𤇾 represents the sound.

Components

𤇾
𤇾 Sound component
yìng glimmer
鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqreːŋ
Unicodeqɛng

說文解字

《說文》：“鶯，鳥也。从鳥，榮省聲。《詩》曰：‘有鶯其羽。’”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)