笑傲江湖
Xiào'ào Jiāng​hú

The Smiling, Proud Wanderer

笑 xiào smile

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 夭 represents the sound.

Components

⺮
⺮ Unknown component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹. The original connection of this component to "laugh" is unclear.

夭
夭 Sound component
yāo, wò, wāi die young

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjewH[s-l]aw-s to laugh

說文解字

《說文新附》：“此字本闕。臣鉉等案：孫愐《唐韻》引《說文》云‘喜也，从竹，从犬’，而不述其義。今俗皆从犬。又案：李陽冰刊定《說文》‘从竹，从夭’，義云‘竹得風其體夭屈如人之笑’。未知其審。”

Sources

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

傲 ào proud

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 敖 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

敖
敖 Sound component
áo, aó, ào ramble, stroll, roam

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangŋaːws
Unicodengɑù

說文解字

《說文》：“傲，倨也。从人，敖聲。”

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)

江 jiāng large river

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

工
工 Sound component
gōng work
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

鸿鴻茳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkaewngkˤroŋ (Yangzi) river

說文解字

《說文》：“江，水。出蜀湔氐徼外崏山，入海。从水，工聲。”

Sources

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

湖 hú a lake

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

胡
胡 Sound component
hú beard

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthu[g]ˤa lake

說文解字

《說文》：“湖，大陂也。从水，胡聲。揚州浸有五湖。浸，川澤所仰以灌溉也。”

Sources

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