秘鲁苦蘵
Bì​lǔ​kǔ​zhí

cape gooseberry

秘 mì secret, mysterious

Phonosemantic compound. 礻 represents the meaning and 必 represents the sound. Originally written as 祕. The 礻 component was later corrupted to 禾.

Components

禾
禾 Simplified component
hé grain stalk

Corruption of the 礻 component in the original character 祕.

必
必 Sound component
bì surely

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangmpriɡs

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.6
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

鲁 lǔ, lǚ foolish, rude Simplified

Original meaning: tasty

Simplified form of 魯. Depicts a fish (魚) inside the mouth (甘). Based on the original meaning "tasty". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

鱼
鱼 SoundIconic component
yú fish
甘
甘 Iconic component
gān sweetness

Depicts something inside the mouth.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

噜撸橹氇镥

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

苦 kǔ bitter

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 古 represents the sound.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

古
古 Sound component
gǔ old

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

楛

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

楛

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhuXkʰˤaʔ bitter

說文解字

大苦，苓也。从艸古聲。

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)

蘵 zhí Physalis angulata

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

plant

職
職 Sound component
zhí duty

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

魯 foolish, rude Traditional

Original meaning: tasty

Depicts a fish (魚) inside the mouth (甘). Based on the original meaning "tasty". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

魚
魚 SoundIconic component
yú fish
甘
甘 Iconic component
gān sweetness

Depicts something inside the mouth.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 3 verified)

擼櫓嚕

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartluX[r]ˤaʔ dull, blunt, simple
luXr.ŋˤaʔ (dialect > *rŋˤ- > *rˤ- > MC l-)(place name)

說文解字

《說文》：“魯，鈍詞也。从白，鮺省聲。《論語》曰：‘參也魯。’”

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)