花色素苷
huā​sè​sù​gān

anthocyanin

花 huā, hua flower

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

化
化 Sound component
huà change

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxwaeqʷʰˤra flower (n.)

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart

色 sè color

Original meaning: press down

Depicts a kneeling person (卩) being pushed down by a hand (爪). Based on the original meaning "press down", now written as 抑. The current meaning "color" is a phonetic loan.

Components

爪
爪 Iconic component
zhǎo, zhuǎ hand, claw
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 爪 than it was in ancient scripts.
卩
卩 Iconic component
jié person kneeling
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 卩 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 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
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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

Meaning (0 of 3 verified)

艳艴艷

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

铯

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsriks.rək color; countenance

說文解字

《說文》：“色，顏气也。从人，从卪。，古文。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.711-712
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

素 sù raw silk, white, plain

Depicts raw silk (糸) hanging from a rack.

Components

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a rack.

糸
糸 Iconic component
mì, sī silk

Depicts raw silk.


Character Evolution

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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

愫嗉

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

愫

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsuH[s]ˤak-s white silk

說文解字

《說文》：“素，白緻繒也。从糸、，取其澤也。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.891-892
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

苷 gān licorice

A sweet 甘 plant 艹; 甘 also provides the pronunciation

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass
甘
甘 SoundMeaning component
gān sweetness

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangkaːm

說文解字

甘艸也。从艸从甘。

Sources

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