zōng​wěi​hóng​zhì

Himalayan monal

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

wěi tail

Depicts fur () protruding from the posterior of a person () wearing a decorative tail.

Components

Iconic component
shī sitting person

Depicts a person sitting or squatting.

Iconic component
máo, mao hair

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

Remnant (1)

Iconic (1)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmj+jX[m]əjʔ tail

說文解字

《說文》:“尾,微也。从到毛在尸後。古人或飾系尾,西南夷亦然。”

Sources

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

hóng, hòng, gòng rainbow

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Originally was a pictograph of a creature, with two heads on each end, that resembled a rainbow.

Components

Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
Sound component
gōng work

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthuwngm-kˤoŋ rainbow
kaewngHkˤroŋ-s rainbow

說文解字

《說文》:“虹,螮蝀也。狀似蟲。从虫,工聲。《明堂》、《月令》曰:‘虹始見。’”

Sources

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

zhì, kǎi, yǐ pheasant

Components

Sound component
shǐ arrow
Meaning component
zhuī, cuī, wéi bird

bird

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdrijXlr[i]jʔpheasant
Zhengzhangl'iʔ
Unicodedjhǐ

說文解字

有十四種:盧諸雉,喬雉,鳪雉,鷩雉,秩秩海雉,翟山雉,翰雉,卓雉,伊洛而南曰翬,江淮而南曰搖,南方曰𢏚,東方曰钕,北方曰稀,西方曰蹲。从隹矢聲。

Sources

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