zōng​hóu​què​méi

rufous-throated fulvetta

zōng hemp palm

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

Components

Meaning component
tree
Sound component
zōng, zong ancestor, sect

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsoːŋ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

hóu throat

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
Sound component
hóu, hòu marquis

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthuw[ɡ]ˤ(r)othroat
Zhengzhangɡoː

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

què sparrow

Pictograph of a sparrow.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsjak[ts]ewk sparrow

說文解字

《說文》:“雀,依人小鳥也。从小、隹。讀與爵同。”

Sources

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

méi Simplified

Components

Sound component
méi eyebrows
Meaning component
niǎo bird

bird

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

Traditional

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmril

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang