给药 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

gěi, jǐ give Simplified

Simplified form of 給. Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 合 represents the sound.

Components

纟 Meaning component

mì silk

Silk is a precious material.

合 Sound component

hé to join

Change in sound

给 and 合 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
给 kip
合 kop

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

yào medicine Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 约 represents the sound. Simplified form of 藥.

Components

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

约 Sound component

yuē agreement

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

gěi, jǐ give Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 合 represents the sound.

Components

糹 Meaning component

mì silk

Silk is a precious material.

合 Sound component

hé to join

Change in sound

給 and 合 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
給 kip
合 kop

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kip	[k](r)[ə]p	furnish

說文解字

《說文》：“給，相足也。从糸，合聲。”

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)

yào medicine Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 樂 represents the sound.

Components

艹 Meaning component

cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

樂 Sound component

lè, yuè happy, music

Change in sound

藥 and 樂 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
藥 yak
樂 lak

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	yak	m-r[e]wk	medicinal plant

說文解字

《說文》：“藥，治病艸。从艸，樂聲。”

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)

给 gěi, jǐ give Simplified

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

药 yào medicine Simplified

Components

Sources

給 gěi, jǐ give Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

藥 yào medicine Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

gěi, jǐ give Simplified

yào medicine Simplified

gěi, jǐ give Traditional

yào medicine Traditional