烤胡椒香肠
kǎo​hú​jiāo​xiāng​cháng

pepperoni

烤 kǎo bake, roast

Phonosemantic compound. 火 represents the meaning and 考 represents the sound.

Components

火
火 Meaning component
huǒ fire
考
考 Sound component
kǎo examine

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰluːʔ

Sources

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

胡 hú beard

Original meaning: flesh under the chin of a cow

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "flesh under the chin of a cow", which later shifted to "beard" (now written as 鬍 in traditional characters). Also used pejoratively to refer to foreigners from central Asia, who tended to have more beards than Han Chinese people. This meaning also shifted to "reckless" and "outrageous".

Components

古
古 Sound component
gǔ old
⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

Change in meaning
⺼ hints at the original meaning of 胡, "flesh under the chin of a cow", which is no longer the most common meaning of 胡 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 13 verified)

湖糊蝴瑚葫鹕猢煳醐餬鶘鬍衚

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

煳

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthu[g]ˤa foreigners in the north

說文解字

《說文》：“胡，牛垂也。从肉，古聲。”

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)

椒 jiāo pepper

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 叔 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
叔
叔 Sound component
shū, shu uncle

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsews.tˤiwpepper plant
tsjewS.tewpepper plant
Zhengzhangʔsliw
Unicodetziɛu

Sources

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

香 xiāng fragrant

Represents the sweet (甘) smell of fresh grain (禾).

Components

禾
禾 Meaning component
hé grain stalk
甘
甘 Meaning component
gān sweetness

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

馨馥

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxjangqʰaŋ fragrance

說文解字

《說文》：“香，芳也。从黍，从甘。《春秋傳》曰：‘黍稷馨香。’”

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)

肠 cháng intestines Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound. Simplified form of 腸.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

昜
昜 Sound component
yáng bright

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

腸 cháng intestines Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 昜 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

昜
昜 Sound component
yáng bright

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjanglraŋintestines
Zhengzhangl'aŋ
Unicodedjhiɑng

說文解字

大小腸也。从肉昜聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)