岩鸽
yán​gē

hill pigeon

岩 yán cliff

The rocks 石 that make up a mountain 山

Components

山
山 Meaning component
shān mountain
石
石 Meaning component
shí stone

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngæm[ŋ]ˤr[a]m (< uvular?)rocky, lofty
Zhengzhangŋraːm
Unicodengam

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

鸽 gē pigeon Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 合 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鴿.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
合
合 Sound component
hé to join

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鴿 gē pigeon Traditional

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

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
合
合 Sound component
hé to join

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkop[k]ˤ[ə]p (no pre-Qín exx.)dove [not in GSR]
Zhengzhangkuːb

說文解字

鳩屬。从鳥合聲。

Sources

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