蚁群
yǐ​qún

ant colony

蚁 yǐ ants Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 义 represents the sound. Simplified form of 蟻.

Components

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
义
义 Sound component
yì justice

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

群 qún group, flock

Phonosemantic compound. 羊 represents the meaning and 君 represents the sound.

Components

君
君 Sound component
jūn ruler
羊
羊 Meaning component
yáng sheep

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgjun[g]ur flock, herd, group

說文解字

《說文》：“羣，輩也。从羊，君聲。”

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)

蟻 yǐ ants Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 義 represents the sound.

Components

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
義
義 Sound component
yì right conduct

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngjeXm-qʰ(r)ajʔant
Zhengzhangŋralʔ
Unicodengyɛ̌

Sources

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