杏鲍菇
xìng​bào​gū

king oyster mushroom

杏 xìng apricot

Depicts a fruit from a tree (木) that is delicious to taste (口).

Components

木
木 Iconic component
mù tree
口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthaengXC.[g]ˤraŋʔ apricot (tree)

說文解字

《說文》：“杏，果也。从木，可省聲。”

Sources

Character origin
黃德寬《古文字譜系疏證》p.1734
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

鲍 bào, bāo, pāo abalone Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鱼 represents the meaning and 包 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鮑.

Components

鱼
鱼 Meaning component
yú fish
包
包 Sound component
bāo wrap

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

菇 gu mushrooms

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

姑
姑 Sound component
gū, gu father's sister

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkumə.kˤamushroom

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

鮑 abalone Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 魚 represents the meaning and 包 represents the sound.

Components

魚
魚 Meaning component
yú fish
包
包 Sound component
bāo wrap

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangbruːʔ
Unicodebhǎu

說文解字

饐魚也。从魚包聲。

Sources

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