莲蓉包
lián​róng​bāo

lotus seed bun

莲 lián, liǎn lotus Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 连 represents the sound. Simplified form of 蓮.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

连
连 Sound component
lián connect, join, link

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

蓉 róng hibiscus

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

容
容 Sound component
róng contain; appearance

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangloŋ
Unicodeiong

說文解字

芙蓉也。从艸容聲。

Sources

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

包 bāo wrap

Original meaning: to embrace

Depicts a person (勹) hugging a child (子). Based on the original meaning "to embrace", now written as 抱. The meaning later shifted to "cover" and "wrap".

Components

勹
勹 SoundIconic component
bāo wrap

Depicts a person hugging. 勹 also represents the sound.

子
子 Iconic component
zi, zǐ child

Depicts a child. Modern form looks like 巳.

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

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 24 verified)

跑炮抱胞饱泡鲍袍咆刨苞雹疱庖孢龅匏狍飑飽砲皰鮑齙

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

袍苞飑

Iconic (1)

抱

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpaewpˤ<r>u wrap, bundle

說文解字

《說文》：“包，象人褢妊，巳在中，象子未成形也。”

Sources

Character origin
谢明文《释甲骨文中的“抱”——兼论“包”字》
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

蓮 lotus Traditional

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

連
連 Sound component
lián connect, join, link

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlenk.[r]ˤe[n] (cf. 蕑 jiān < kean < *kˤre[n] (dial. *k.rˤ- > kˤr-) ‘lotus fruit (Ode 145.2)’)lotus fruit
Zhengzhangrenʔ
reːn
Unicodelen

說文解字

芙蕖之實也。从艸連聲。

Sources

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