鼻咽癌
bí​yān'ái

nasopharyngeal cancer

鼻 bí nose

Phonosemantic compound. 自 is a pictograph of a nose and 畀 represents the sound.

Components

自
自 Iconic component
zì (nose), self

Depicts a nose.

畀
畀 Sound component
bì to give

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1 of 5 verified)

鼾擤劓齄鼽

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

濞劓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjijHCə-bi[t]-s smell (v.t.)
bjijHm-bi[t]-s nose

說文解字

《說文》：“鼻，引气自畀也。从自、畀。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

咽 yàn, yè, yān throat

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 因 represents the sound. Simplified form of 嚥.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
因
因 Sound component
yīn cause

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartʔenʔˤi[n]gullet
ʔenHʔˤi[n]-sswallow (v.)
Zhengzhangqiːn
qiːns
qiːd
Unicodeqet

說文解字

嗌也。从口因聲。

Sources

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

癌 ái cancer

Phonosemantic compound. 疒 represents the meaning and 嵒 represents the sound.

Components

疒
疒 Meaning component
nè sick
嵒
嵒 Sound component
yán, niè cliff

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode