yán​lù

Pacific reef heron

yán cliff

The rocks that make up a mountain 

Components

Meaning component
shān mountain
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

heron Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
niǎo bird
Sound component
road

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

heron Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
niǎo bird
Sound component
road

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangraːɡs
Unicode

說文解字

白鷺也。从鳥路聲。

Sources

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