辣椒油
là​jiāo​yóu

chili oil

辣 là spicy

Phonosemantic compound. 辛 represents the meaning and a remnant of 剌 represents the sound.

Components

辛
辛 Meaning component
xīn laborious
剌
剌 SoundRemnant component
lá, là cut, slash

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlatmə.rˤat
(~ C.rˤat ?)		spicy-hot

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

椒 jiāo pepper

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

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
叔
叔 Sound component
shū, shu uncle

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 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-Sagarttsews.tˤiwpepper plant
tsjewS.tewpepper plant
Zhengzhangʔsliw
Unicodetziɛu

Sources

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

油 yóu oil

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

由
由 Sound component
yóu cause

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartyuw[l][u] flow(ing)

說文解字

《說文》：“油，水。出武陵孱陵西，東南〔北〕入江。从水，由聲。”

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)