huī​jí​líng

grey wagtail

huī ashes

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

Components

Iconic component
yòu hand
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)

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

wagtail Simplified

Components

Sound component
spine
Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

líng species of lark Simplified

Components

Sound component
lìng command
Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

wagtail Traditional

Components

Sound component
spine
Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangʔseɡ
Unicodetzek

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

species of lark Traditional

Components

Sound component
lìng command
Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangreːŋ
Unicodeleng

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang