棕蓑猫

棕 zōng hemp palm

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 宗 represents the sound. Simplified form of 椶.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
宗
宗 Sound component
zōng, zong ancestor, sect

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangʔsoːŋ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

蓑 suō rain coat made of straw

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

grass

衰
衰 Sound component
shuāi decline

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartswa[s]ˤojraincoat of straw of rush
Zhengzhangsloːl
sluːl
Unicodesuɑ

Sources

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

猫 māo cat Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 苗 represents the sound. Simplified form of 貓.

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

苗
苗 Sound component
miáo sprouts

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmrew

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

貓 māo cat Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 豸 represents the meaning and 苗 represents the sound.

Components

豸
豸 Meaning component
zhì (dhole), beast
苗
苗 Sound component
miáo sprouts

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartmaewC.mˤraw cat

說文解字

《說文新附》：“貓，貍屬。从豸，苗聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)