烂泥
làn​ní

mud

烂 làn rotten Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 火 represents the meaning and 兰 represents the sound. Simplified form of 爛.

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
兰
兰 Sound component
lán orchid

Sources

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

泥 ní mud

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 尼 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

尼
尼 Sound component
ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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-SagartnejC.nˤ[əj]mud
nejHnˤər(ʔ)-simpeded, obstructed (Lunyu)
Zhengzhangniːl
niːls
Unicodenei
nèi

說文解字

水。出北地郁郅北蠻中。从水尼聲。

Sources

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

爛 làn rotten Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 火 represents the meaning and 闌 represents the sound.

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
闌
闌 Sound component
door screen

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartlanH[r]ˤan-s cooked until soft

說文解字

《說文》：“爤，孰也。从火，蘭聲。燗，或从閒。”

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)