小苇鳽
xiǎo​wěi​jiān

little bittern

小 xiǎo small

Depicts three small dots, representing the meaning "small". Originally the same character as 少. The small dots possibly represent grains of sand (沙).

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 Early Western Zhou ~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

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 8 verified)

孙尖尘肖隙尕尜尗

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

肖県

Iconic (2)

𭕆𧴪

Simplified (1)

孙

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsjewX[s]ewʔ small

說文解字

《說文》：“小，物之微也。从八，丨見而分之。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.79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)

苇 wěi reed Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 韦 represents the sound. Simplified form of 葦.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

韦
韦 Sound component
wéi, huí tanned leather

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鳽 yán (used in naming bitterns and several other species of heron)

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkŋeːn
ŋeːn
ŋ̊ʰreːŋ
ŋreːɡ

說文解字

石鳥。一名雝𪆫。一曰精𠛱。从隹幵聲。《春秋傳》：“秦有士鳽 。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

葦 wěi reed Traditional

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

韋
韋 Sound component
(surround a city), tanned leather

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangɢʷɯlʔ
Unicodehiuə̌i

說文解字

大葭也。从艸韋聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)