馨
xīn HSK7

fragrant

Phonosemantic compound. 香 represents the meaning and 殸 represents the sound.

Components

香
香 Meaning component
xiāng fragrant
殸
殸 Sound component
qìng, kēng, shēng stone chimes

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxengqʰˤeŋfragrance
Zhengzhangqʰeːŋ
Unicodexeng

說文解字

香之遠聞者。从香殸聲。殸，籒文磬。

Sources

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