锁钥
suǒ​yuè

lock and key

锁 suǒ lock Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 𭕆 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鎖.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

𭕆
𭕆 Sound component
suǒ fragments

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

钥 yào key Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 钅 represents the meaning and 月 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鑰.

Components

钅
钅 Meaning component
jīn metal

钅 is a component form of 金.

月
月 Sound component
yuè, yue moon

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

鎖 suǒ lock Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 𧴪 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
𧴪
𧴪 Sound component
suǒ fragments

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartswaX[s]ˤojʔ chain

說文解字

《說文新附》：“鎖，鐵鎖，門鍵也。从金，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)

鑰 yào key Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 龠 represents the sound.

Components

釒
釒 Meaning component
jīn metal
龠
龠 Sound component
yuè flute

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhanglowɢ
Unicodeiɑk

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang