海绵蛋糕
hǎi​mián​dàn​gāo

sponge cake

海 hǎi sea

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 每 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

每
每 Sound component
měi every
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Seal form
Seal Jin 266-420 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

嗨

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartxojXm̥ˤəʔ (dialect *m̥ˤ- > x-)sea

說文解字

《說文》：“海，天池也，以納百川者。从水，每聲。”

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)

绵 mián cotton wad Simplified

A continuous thread 纟 of silk 帛

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
mì silk
帛
帛 Meaning component
bó silks

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

蛋 dàn eggs

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 延 represents the sound.

Components

延
延 SoundRemnant component
yán delay
Change in sound
虫
虫 Meaning component
chóng bug, insect

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangl'aːns

Sources

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

糕 gāo cakes

Phonosemantic compound. 米 represents the meaning and 羔 represents the sound.

Components

米
米 Meaning component
mǐ rice
羔
羔 Sound component
gāo lamb

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkluː

Sources

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

綿 mián cotton wad Traditional

A continuous thread 糹 of silk 帛

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk
帛
帛 Meaning component
bó silks

Character Evolution

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 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangmen
Unicodemiɛn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica