chā​cáo

slot

chā insert

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

is a component form of .

SoundMeaning component
chā to separate the grain from the husk

Depicts using a pestle () to grind grain to be separated from its husk in a mortar ().

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsrheapmə-[tsʰ]<r>op insert

說文解字

《說文》:“插,刺肉也。从手,从臿。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

cáo trough

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
tree
Sound component
cáo plaintiff and defendant

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsluː
zluː

說文解字

畜獸之食器。从木曹聲。

Sources

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