àn​huī​juān​jú

black-winged cuckooshrike

àn dark

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
sun
Sound component
yīn sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagart'omHqˤum-s dark

說文解字

《說文》:“暗,日無光也。从日,音聲。”

Sources

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

huī ashes

Depicts a hand () picking ashes left over from a fire ().

Components

Iconic component
yòu hand
Iconic component
huǒ fire

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwojm̥ˤə ashes

說文解字

《說文》:“灰,死火餘也。从火,从又。又,手也。火既滅,可以執持。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.890
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

juān cuckoo Simplified

Components

Sound component
yuàn, yuān to be satiated
Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

shrike

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwekkʷˤekshrike

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

juān cuckoo Traditional

Components

Sound component
yuàn, yuān to be satiated
Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkʷeːn
Unicodeguen

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang