Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 它 represents the sound. Originally written as 它.
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | zyae | Cə.lAj | snake |
| ye | laj | 委蛇 compliant, complacent |
說文解字
《說文》：“它，虫也。从虫而長，象冤曲垂尾形。上古艸居患它，故相問無它乎。蛇，它或从虫。”
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)
Components
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | ngæm | [ŋ]ˤr[a]m (< uvular?) | rocky, lofty |
| Zhengzhang | ŋraːm | ||
| Unicode | ngam |
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Traditional
Components
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | |
|---|---|---|
| Zhengzhang | mɯn | |
| Unicode | miən |
Sources
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Zhengzhang Shangfang