綱
gāng

heavy rope

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 岡 represents the sound.

Components

糹
糹 Meaning component
mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

岡
岡 Sound component
gāng ridge or crest of hill

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkangkˤaŋguiding rope of net
Zhengzhangklaːŋ
Unicodegɑng

說文解字

維紘繩也。从糸岡聲。

Sources

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

纲 gāng heavy rope Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 冈 represents the sound. Simplified form of 綱.

Components

纟
纟 Meaning component
sī silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

冈
冈 Sound component
gāng ridge or crest of hill

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode