琵鹭
pí​lù

spoonbill

琵 pí guitar-like instrument

Phonosemantic compound. 玨 represents the meaning and 比 represents the sound.

Components

玨
玨 Meaning component
jué two pieces of jade joined together
比
比 Sound component
bǐ to compare

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangbi
Unicodebhi

說文解字

琵琶，樂器。从珡比聲。

Sources

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

鹭 lù heron Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 路 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鷺.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
路
路 Sound component
lù road

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鷺 heron Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 路 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
路
路 Sound component
lù road

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangraːɡs
Unicodelò

說文解字

白鷺也。从鳥路聲。

Sources

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