阴郁
yīn​yù

gloomy

阴 yīn dark Simplified

The traditional characters 陰 (Yin) and 陽 (Yang) were simplified to 阴 and 阳. In Chinese philosophy, the moon (月) corresponds to Yin (阴) and the sun (日) corresponds to Yang (阳).

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

月
月 Simplified component
yuè, yue moon

Simplified from the traditional 陰. Used here since the moon corresponds to the 'Yin' of 'Yin and Yang' in Chinese philosophy.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

荫

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

荫

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

郁 yù surname Yu Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 有 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鬱.

Components

⻏
⻏ Meaning component
yì city

阝 is a component form of 邑.

有
有 Sound component
yǒu have

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'juwkqʷək stately, elegant

說文解字

《說文》：“郁，右扶風郁夷也。从邑，有聲。”

Sources

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

陰 yīn dark Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 今 and 云 represent the sound, while 阝 and 云 represent the meaning.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜. Depicts hills blocking sunlight.

今
今 Sound component
jīn now
云
云 SoundMeaning component
yún clouds

Depicts clouds darkening the sky.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

蔭

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

蔭

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'imq(r)um dark

說文解字

闇也。水之南、山之北也。从𨸏侌聲。

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)

鬱 melancholy, sweet smelling Traditional

Depicts a person (大) trampling another person (勹), who is depressed, in a forest (林). 鬯 (sacrificial wine) was later added to the character since the meaning later extended to "sweet smelling".

Components

林
林 Iconic component
lín forest
大
大 Iconic component
dà, dài big

Depicts a person trampling. Modern form looks like unrelated 缶.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 大 than it was in ancient scripts.
勹
勹 Iconic component
bāo wrap

Here used to depict a depressed person being trampled. Modern form looks like unrelated 冖.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 勹 than it was in ancient scripts.
鬯
鬯 Meaning component
chàng sacrificial wine

This component was later added since the meaning of this character extended to "sweet smelling".

彡
彡 UnknownDistinguishing component
shān, xiǎn hair

This component was possibly added as decorative strokes.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'jutqut blocked; anxious

說文解字

《說文》：“鬱，木叢生者。从林，省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.433-434Wiktionary
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)