苔藓
tái​xiǎn

moss

苔 tái, tāi moss

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

台
台 Sound component
tái platform

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangl'ɯː
Unicodedhəi

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

藓 xiǎn moss Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 鲜 represents the sound. Simplified form of 蘚.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

鲜
鲜 Sound component
xiān, xian fresh

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

蘚 moss Traditional

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

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

艹 is a component form of 艸.

鮮
鮮 Sound component
xiān, xian fresh

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangsenʔ
Unicodesiɛ̌n

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica