胞藻
bāo​zǎo

algae

胞 bāo womb

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

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

包
包 Sound component
bāo wrap

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpæwpˤ<r>uwomb
Zhengzhangpruː
pʰruː

說文解字

兒生裹也。从肉从包。

Sources

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

藻 zǎo splendid

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

澡
澡 Sound component
zǎo wash

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsawX[ts]ˤawʔkind of water plant
Zhengzhangʔsaːwʔ
Unicodetzɑ̌u

Sources

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