蜗杆
wō​gǎn

worm

蜗 wō a snail Simplified

Components

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect

mollusk

呙
呙 Sound component
guō, wāi, hé chat

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

杆 gān, gǎn pole Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 干 represents the sound. Simplified form of 桿.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
干
干 Sound component
gàn, gān interfere

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkaːns
Unicodegɑn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

蝸 wō a snail Traditional

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

Components

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
咼
咼 Sound component
chat

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwæk.rˤoj (dialect: *k.rˤ- > *kˤr-)snail
Zhengzhangkroːl
kʷroːl

說文解字

蝸蠃也。从虫咼聲。

Sources

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

桿 pole Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 旱 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
旱
旱 Sound component
hàn drought

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Warring States 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkaːnʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica