窑洞
yáo​dòng

cave dwelling

窑 yáo kiln Simplified

An oven 穴 where pots 缶 are fired; 缶 also provides the pronunciation

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
缶
缶 SoundMeaning component
fǒu pottery

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

洞 dòng cave

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 同 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

同
同 Sound component
tóng, tong, tòng together

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangdoːŋ
doːŋs
Unicodedhùng
dhung

說文解字

《說文》：“洞，疾流也。从水，同聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

窯 yáo kiln Traditional

An oven 穴 where lamb 羔 is cooked; 羔 also provides the pronunciation

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
羔
羔 SoundMeaning component
gāo lamb

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangluː

說文解字

燒瓦竈也。从穴羔聲。

Sources

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