鸳鸯蝴蝶
yuān​yang​hú​dié

lovebirds

鸳 yuān male mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 夗 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鴛.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
夗
夗 Sound component
yuàn, wǎn, wān to turn over when asleep

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鸯 yāng female mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 央 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鴦.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
央
央 Sound component
yāng beg

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

蝴 hú butterfly

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 胡 represents the sound.

Components

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
胡
胡 Sound component
hú beard

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡaː
Unicodeho

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

蝶 dié butterfly

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 枼 represents the sound. Simplified form of 蜨.

Components

虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
枼
枼 Sound component
yè leaf

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdeplˤephu-dep: butterfly
Zhengzhangl̥ʰeːb
l'eːb
Unicodetep
dhep

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

鴛 male mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 夗 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
夗
夗 Sound component
yuàn, wǎn, wān to turn over when asleep

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangquːn
qon
Unicodeqiuæn

說文解字

鴛鴦也。从鳥夗聲。

Sources

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

鴦 female mandarin duck (Aix galericulata) Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 央 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
央
央 Sound component
yāng beg

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartʔjangʔaŋfemale mandarin duck
Zhengzhangqaːŋ
qaŋ
Unicodeqiɑng

說文解字

鴛鴦也。从鳥央聲。

Sources

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