钗
chāi

ornamental hairpin

A metal 钅 fork 叉; 叉 also provides the pronunciation

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal
叉
叉 SoundMeaning component
chā, chá, chǎ fork, prong

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

釵 ornamental hairpin Traditional

A metal 釒 fork 叉; 叉 also provides the pronunciation

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
叉
叉 SoundMeaning component
chā, chá, chǎ fork, prong

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰreːl
Unicodechrɛi

說文解字

笄屬。从金叉聲。本只作叉，此字後人所加。

Sources

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