麒麟座
Qí​lín​zuò

Monoceros

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)

座 zuò seat

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 坐 represents the sound.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
坐
坐 SoundMeaning component
zuò sit

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzwaH[dz]ˤo[j]ʔ-s seat n.

Sources

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