烧麦
shāo​mài

shumai

烧 shāo burn Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 火 represents the meaning and 尧 represents the sound. Simplified form of 燒.

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
尧
尧 Sound component
yáo a legendary ancient emperor-sage

Sources

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

麦 mài wheat Simplified

Simplified form of 麥. The top component 來 depicts a stalk of wheat. The bottom component depicts roots.

Components

來
來 SoundIconicSimplified component
lái come

Depicts a stalk of wheat.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts roots.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Iconic (1)

啬

Remnant (1)

啬

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

麸

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

唛

說文解字

《說文》：“麥，芒穀。秋穜厚薶，故謂之麥。麥，金也。金王而生，火王而死。从來，有穗者。从夕。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.465
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

燒 shāo burn Traditional

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

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
堯
堯 Sound component
legendary ancient emperor-sage

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsyew[ŋ̊]ew burn

說文解字

《說文》：“燒，爇也。从火，堯聲。”

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)

麥 mài wheat Traditional

The top component 來 depicts a stalk of wheat. The bottom component depicts roots.

Components

來
來 SoundIconic component
lái come

Depicts a stalk of wheat.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts roots.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 5 verified)

麴麯麩麵麪

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

嘜

Iconic (1)

嗇

Remnant (1)

嗇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmeakm-rˤək (dialect: *m-rˤ > *mˤr-)wheat

說文解字

《說文》：“麥，芒穀。秋穜厚薶，故謂之麥。麥，金也。金王而生，火王而死。从來，有穗者。从夕。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.465
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)