yǎo, yào obscure

Components

Meaning component
xué, jué cave

cave

Sound component
yòu young, infant

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartʔewXʔˤ[e]wʔʔewX-dewX hidden; deep
Zhengzhangqiːwʔ
Unicodeqěu

說文解字

深遠也。从穴幼聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

ǎi cloudy sky Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
rain
Sound component
yè, ǎi visit

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

cloudy sky Traditional

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqaːds
qaːd
Unicodeqɑ̀i

說文解字

雲皃。从雨,藹省聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica