yǎ, yā, yá elegant

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird
Sound component
tooth

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartngæXN-ɢˤraʔproper, refined
ngæX[N-ɢ]ˤraʔkind of musical instrument
Zhengzhangŋraːʔ
Unicodengǎ

說文解字

楚烏也。一名鸒,一名卑居。秦謂之雅。从隹牙聲。

Sources

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

piàn, piān slice

Pictograph of a slice of a tree, taken from the right half of (tree).

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (2 of 5 verified)

Unknown (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartphenHpʰˤe[n]-s half; partial

說文解字

《說文》:“片,判木也。从半木。”

Sources

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