麒麟
qí​lín

giraffe

麒 qí legendary auspicious animal

Phonosemantic compound. 鹿 represents the meaning and 其 represents the sound.

Components

鹿
鹿 Meaning component
lù deer
其
其 Sound component
qí its, his, (3p possessive)

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɡɯ
Unicodeghiə

說文解字

仁獸也。麋身牛尾，一角。从鹿其聲。

Sources

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

麟 lín female of Chinese unicorn

Components

鹿
鹿 Meaning component
lù deer

deer

粦
粦 Sound component
lín will-o'-the wisp, phosphorus

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangrin
Unicodelin

說文解字

大牝鹿也。从鹿粦聲。

Sources

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