烷基苯磺酸钠
wán​jī​běn​huáng​suān​nà

sodium alkylbenzene sulfonate

烷 wán alkane

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

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
完
完 Sound component
wán complete

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

基 jī foundation

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound.

Components

其
其 Sound component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
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 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-Sagartkik(r)ə base (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“基，牆始也。从土，其聲。”

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)

苯 běn benzene

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

本
本 Sound component
běn root

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpɯːnʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

磺 huáng sulphur

A yellow 黄 mineral 石; 黄 also provides the pronunciation

Components

石
石 Meaning component
shí stone
黄
黄 SoundMeaning component
huáng yellow

Character Evolution

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

說文解字

銅鐵樸石也。从石黃聲。讀若穬。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

酸 suān sour, tart

Phonosemantic compound. 酉 represents the meaning and 夋 represents the sound.

Components

酉
酉 Meaning component
yǒu wine
夋
夋 Sound component
qūn to dawdle

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartswan[s]ˤor sour

說文解字

《說文》：“酸，酢也。从酉，夋聲。關東謂酢曰酸。，籀文酸从畯。”

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)

钠 nà, ruì sodium Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 内 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鈉.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

内
内 Sound component
nèi inside

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鈉 sodium Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 内 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal

釒 is a component form of 金.

内
内 Sound component
nèi inside

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangnjobs

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang