云南柳莺
Yún​nán​liǔ​yīng

Chinese leaf warbler

云 yún clouds Simplified

Depicts a swirl of clouds up (上) in the sky.

Components

上
上 Meaning component
shàng, shang up
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 上 than it was in ancient scripts.
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a swirl of clouds.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 14 verified)

运魂坛旬匀芸酝耘纭陰雲紜勻侌

Simplified (3)

动层尝

Meaning (2 of 3 verified)

陰雲侌

Iconic (1)

昙

Unknown (1)

藝

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjun[ɢ]ʷə[r] say

說文解字

《說文》：“雲，山川气也。从雨，云象雲回轉形。云，古文省雨。云說文古文;2，亦古文雲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.819
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

南 nán south

Original meaning: musical instrument

Depicts a bell-shaped musical instrument. The current meaning of 南 is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

喃楠罱蝻腩

Simplified (1)

献

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartnomnˤ[ə]m south

說文解字

《說文》：“南，艸木至南方有枝任也。从，聲。，古文。”

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)

柳 liǔ willow tree

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 卯 represents the sound. Simplified form of 栁.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
卯
卯 Sound component
mǎo 4th terrestrial branch

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartljuwX([m]ə.)ruʔwillow
Zhengzhangm·ruʔ
Unicodeliǒu

Sources

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

莺 yīng oriole Simplified

Simplified form of 鶯. Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 𤇾 represents the sound.

Components

𤇾
𤇾 SoundSimplified component
yìng glimmer
鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird

Sources

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

雲 clouds Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 雨 represents the meaning and 云 represents the sound.

Components

雨
雨 Meaning component
yǔ rain
云
云 SoundMeaning component
yún clouds

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

蕓

Iconic (1)

曇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthjun[ɢ]ʷə[n] cloud

說文解字

《說文》：“雲，山川气也。从雨，云象雲回轉形。云，古文省雨。云說文古文;2，亦古文雲。”

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)

鶯 oriole Traditional

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

Components

𤇾
𤇾 Sound component
yìng glimmer
鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangqreːŋ
Unicodeqɛng

說文解字

《說文》：“鶯，鳥也。从鳥，榮省聲。《詩》曰：‘有鶯其羽。’”

Sources

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