蒙特卡洛
Méng​tè Kǎ​luò

Monte Carlo

蒙 méng, mēng, měng cover

Original meaning: a parasitic vine

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 冡 represents the sound. Originally the name of a plant, later meanings coincide with the original meaning of 冡 (to cover).

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 蒙, "a parasitic vine", which is no longer the most common meaning of 蒙 in modern Mandarin.
冡
冡 Sound component
méng to cover

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 9 verified)

朦檬蠓矇艨礞懞濛曚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmuwngmˤoŋ cover (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“蒙，王女也。从艸，冡聲。”

Sources

Character origin
李學勤 《字源》 p.58
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

特 tè special

Original meaning: bull

Phonosemantic compound. 牛 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bull". The meaning later shifted to "prominent" and "special".

Components

牛
牛 Meaning component
niú cow
寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple
Change in sound

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-Sagartdok[d]ˤək bull

說文解字

《說文》：“特，朴特，牛父也。从牛，寺聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

卡 kǎ stuck

Origin unclear, but typically explained as being stuck between something above (上) and something below (下). The uses of 卡 to mean "card" or "calorie" are foreign phonetic loans.

Components

上
上 Iconic component
shàng, shang up
下
下 Iconic component
xià, xia under

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

咔胩佧

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

洛 luò river in Shanxi province

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 各 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

各
各 Sound component
gè each
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

落

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡ·raːɡ
Unicodelɑk

說文解字

《說文》：“洛，水。出左馮翊歸德北夷界中，東南入渭。从水，各聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)