pí​wèi

spleen and stomach

spleen

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

Components

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of .

Sound component
bēi humble, inferior
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjiem-[p]e spleen

說文解字

《說文》:“脾,土藏也。从肉,卑聲。”

Sources

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

wèi stomach

The top component is a pictograph of the stomach. The bottom component ⺼ (flesh) is a common component in body parts.

Components

Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts the stomach. Modern form looks like unrelated .

Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of .

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
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 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

Remnant (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjw+jH[ɢ]ʷə[t]-s stomach

說文解字

《說文》:“胃,穀府也。从肉、。象形。”

Sources

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