狼狈
láng​bèi HSK7

wretched

狼 láng wolf

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 良 represents the sound.

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

良
良 Sound component
liáng good

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 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-Sagartlang[r]ˤaŋwolf
Zhengzhangraːŋ
Unicodelɑng

說文解字

似犬，銳頭，白頰，高前，廣後。从犬良聲。

Sources

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

狈 bèi a legendary animal with short forelegs which rode a wolf Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 贝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 狽.

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

贝
贝 Sound component
bèi sea shell

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

狽 bèi a legendary animal with short forelegs which rode a wolf Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 貝 represents the sound.

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

貝
貝 Sound component
bèi sea shell

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangpaːds
Unicodebɑ̀i

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica