pào​huī

cannon fodder

pào large gun, cannon

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
huǒ fire
Sound component
bāo wrap

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpʰruːs
bruː

說文解字

《說文》:“炮,毛炙肉也。从火,包聲。”

Sources

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

huī ashes

Depicts a hand () picking ashes left over from a fire ().

Components

Iconic component
yòu hand
Iconic component
huǒ fire

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwojm̥ˤə ashes

說文解字

《說文》:“灰,死火餘也。从火,从又。又,手也。火既滅,可以執持。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.890
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica