蟹味菇
xiè​wèi​gū

beech mushroom

蟹 xiè crab

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 解 represents the sound. Simplified form of 蠏.

Components

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
解
解 Sound component
jiě divide

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthɛXm-kˤreʔcrab
Zhengzhangɡreːʔ

Sources

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

味 wèi taste

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 未 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
未
未 Sound component
wèi not yet

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmj+jHm[ə]t-s taste (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“味，滋味也。从口，未聲。”

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)

菇 gu mushrooms

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

姑
姑 Sound component
gū, gu father's sister

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkumə.kˤamushroom

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart