xiōng​gǔ

sternum

xiōng breast

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

Components

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of .

SoundMeaning component
xiōng breast

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqʰoŋ
Unicodexiong

說文解字

《說文》:“匈,聲也。从勹,凶聲。,匈或从肉。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

gǔ, gú bone

Pictograph of a bone () with a muscle () attached to it.

Components

SoundIconic component
guǎ bone
Iconic component
ròu meat

Deceptively similar but unrelated to .

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to than it was in ancient scripts.

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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (4 of 21 verified)

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwotkˤut bone

說文解字

《說文》:“骨,肉之覈也。从冎,有肉。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.336
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica