乌灰银鸥
wū​huī​yín'ōu

lesser black-backed gull

乌 wū crow Simplified

Simplified form of 烏. Pictograph of a crow. Similar to 鳥.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

呜坞钨邬

Sources

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

灰 huī ashes

Depicts a hand (又) picking ashes left over from a fire (火).

Components

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand
火
火 Iconic component
huǒ fire

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

恢盔诙咴詼

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwojm̥ˤə ashes

說文解字

《說文》：“灰，死火餘也。从火，从又。又，手也。火既滅，可以執持。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.890
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

银 yín silver Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 艮 represents the sound. Simplified form of 銀.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

艮
艮 Sound component
gěn, gèn, hén blunt
Change in sound

Sources

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

鸥 ōu seagull Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 区 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鷗.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
区
区 Sound component
qū area

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

烏 wū crow Traditional

Pictograph of a crow. Similar to 鳥.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 4 verified)

摀鎢塢嗚

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'u[ʔ]ˤa oh!
'uqˤa crow, raven; black
'uʔˤa 烏桓, 烏丸 Wūhuán: Avars (W. Hàn)

說文解字

《說文》：“烏，孝鳥也。象形。孔子曰：‘烏，呼也。’取其助气，故以為烏呼。，古文烏，象形。於，象古文烏省。”

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)

銀 yín silver Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 艮 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal

釒 is a component form of 金.

艮
艮 Sound component
gěn, gèn, hén blunt
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Xin 9-23 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnginŋrə[n] silver

說文解字

《說文》：“銀，白金也。从金，艮聲。”

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)

鷗 ōu seagull Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 區 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
區
區 Sound component
qū area

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqoː
Unicodeqou

Sources

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