肾盂
shèn​yú

renal pelvis

肾 shèn kidneys Simplified

Components

又
又 Unknown component
yòu again
⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

flesh

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

盂 yú basin

Phonosemantic compound. 皿 represents the meaning and 于 represents the sound.

Components

皿
皿 Meaning component
mǐn, mǐng dish
于
于 Sound component
yú at

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthju[ɢ]ʷ(r)aa formation of a hunting party
Zhengzhangɢʷa

說文解字

飯器也。从皿亏聲。

Sources

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

腎 kidneys Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 臤 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

臤
臤 Sound component
to gouge out an eye

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyinXCə.[ɡ]i[n]ʔkidney
Zhengzhangɡjinʔ

說文解字

水藏也。从肉臤聲。

Sources

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