sè​suō

cower

large stringed musical instrument

Phonosemantic compound. A depiction of movable frets of an stringed instrument represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts the movable frets of a stringed instrument. Modern form looks like unrelated .

Sound component
surely
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 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-Sagartsrit[s.m]ri[t] lute

說文解字

《說文》:“瑟,庖犧所作弦樂也。从珡,必聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

suō contract Simplified

Components

Meaning component
silk

thread

宿
宿 Sound component
sù, xiǔ lodge, sleep overnight

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

suō contract Traditional

Components

Meaning component
silk

thread

宿
宿 Sound component
sù, xiǔ lodge, sleep overnight

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsrjuwk[s]rukshrink
Zhengzhangsruɡ
Unicodeshriuk

說文解字

亂也。从糸宿聲。一曰蹴也。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica