蓝鲸
lán​jīng

blue whale

蓝 lán blue, indigo plant Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 监 represents the sound. Simplified form of 藍.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

监
监 Sound component
jiān watch carefully
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

鲸 jīng whale Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鱼 represents the meaning and 京 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鯨.

Components

鱼
鱼 Meaning component
yú fish
京
京 Sound component
jīng capital city

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

藍 lán blue, indigo plant Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 監 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

監
監 Sound component
jiān watch carefully
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlam[N-k.]rˤam indigo

說文解字

《說文》：“藍，染青草也。从艸，監聲。”

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)

鯨 jīng whale Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 魚 represents the meaning and 京 represents the sound.

Components

魚
魚 Meaning component
yú fish
京
京 Sound component
jīng capital city

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartgjæng[ɡ]raŋwhale
Zhengzhangɡraŋ
Unicodeghiæng

Sources

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