辣椒味
là​jiāo​wèi

scent of chili

辣 là spicy

Phonosemantic compound. 辛 represents the meaning and a remnant of 剌 represents the sound.

Components

辛
辛 Meaning component
xīn laborious
剌
剌 SoundRemnant component
lá, là cut, slash

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartlatmə.rˤat
(~ C.rˤat ?)		spicy-hot

Sources

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

椒 jiāo pepper

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 叔 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
叔
叔 Sound component
shū, shu uncle

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsews.tˤiwpepper plant
tsjewS.tewpepper plant
Zhengzhangʔsliw
Unicodetziɛu

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

味 wèi taste

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 未 represents the sound.

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
未
未 Sound component
wèi not yet

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmj+jHm[ə]t-s taste (n.)

說文解字

《說文》：“味，滋味也。从口，未聲。”

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)