rào​kǒu​lìng

tongue-twister

rào, rǎo entwine Simplified

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

Components

Meaning component
silk

is a component form of .

Sound component
yáo a legendary ancient emperor-sage

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

kǒu, kou mouth

Pictograph of a mouth.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 5 verified)

Unknown (1 of 2 verified)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhuwXkʰˤ(r)oʔ mouth

說文解字

《說文》:“口,人所以言食也。象形。”

Sources

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

lìng command

Depicts a person () receiving commands from a mouth () above them.

Components

Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Eastern Han 25-220 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 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

Meaning (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartleng[r]ˤiŋ 脊令 tsjek.leng (a kind of water bird)
ljengriŋ send (a person)
ljengHriŋ-s issue a command

說文解字

《說文》:“令,發號也。从亼、卪。”

Sources

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

rào, rǎo entwine Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
silk

is a component form of .

Sound component
legendary ancient emperor-sage

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnyewX[ŋ]ewʔ (< uvular?)curved
nyewH[ŋ]ewʔ-s (< uvular?)to wind round
Zhengzhangŋjewʔ
ŋjaws
Unicodenjiɛ̌u
njiɛ̀u

說文解字

纏也。从糸堯聲。

Sources

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