cán​cù

silkworm bundle

cán silkworms Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound. Simplified form of .

Components

Meaning component
chóng bug, insect
Sound component
tiān, tian sky

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangzluːm
hl'iːnʔ

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang

cù, còu, chuò frame on which silkworms spin

Components

Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

grass

Sound component
clan, tribe, race

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangsʰoːɡs
sʰoːɡ

說文解字

行蠶蓐。从艸族聲。

Sources

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

cán silkworms Traditional

Components

Sound component
cǎn, qián, jiàn if
Meaning component
kūn insects

insect

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzomC.[dz]ˤ[ə]m silkworm

說文解字

《說文》:“蠶,任絲也。从,朁聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica