哈莱姆
Hā​lái​mǔ

Harlem

哈 hā sound of laughter

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 合 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
合
合 Sound component
hé to join

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangŋɡuːb

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

莱 lái goosefoot weed Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 来 represents the sound. Simplified form of 萊.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

来
来 Sound component
lái come

Sources

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

姆 mǔ woman looking after children

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 母 represents the sound.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
母
母 Sound component
mǔ mother

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmuwXməʔ female teacher in harem

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

萊 goosefoot weed Traditional

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

來
來 Sound component
lái come

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangrɯː
rɯːs
Unicodeləi

說文解字

《說文》：“萊，蔓華也。从艸，來聲。”

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)