bái​lǐng​fěi​cuì

collared kingfisher

bái, bai white

Origin unclear. Possibly depicts a thumb or a person's face.

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
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbaekbˤrak white

說文解字

《說文》:“白,西方色也。陰用事,物色白。从入合二。二,陰數。,古文白。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.625漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

lǐng neck Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Sound component
lìng command
Meaning component
page

Depicts a head.

Sources

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

fěi kingfisher

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
feather
Sound component
fēi not

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangbɯls
Unicodebhiə̀i

說文解字

赤羽雀也。出鬱林。从羽非聲。

Sources

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

cuì color green

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
feather
Sound component
zú, cù, cuì soldier, to finish

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰuds
Unicodetsuì

說文解字

青羽雀也。出鬱林。从羽卒聲。

Sources

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

lǐng neck Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
lìng command
Meaning component
(head), page

Depicts a head.

Character Evolution

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartljengX[r]eŋʔ neck

說文解字

《說文》:“領,項也。从頁,令聲。”

Sources

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