魂魄
hún​pò

soul

魂 hún soul

Phonosemantic compound. 鬼 represents the meaning and 云 represents the sound. Simplified form of 䰟.

Components

鬼
鬼 Meaning component
guǐ ghost
云
云 Sound component
yún clouds

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthwon[m.]qʷˤə[n]spiritual soul
Zhengzhangɢuːn
Unicodehuən

說文解字

陽气也。从鬼云聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

魄 pò vigor

Phonosemantic compound. 鬼 represents the meaning and 白 represents the sound.

Components

鬼
鬼 Meaning component
guǐ ghost
白
白 Sound component
bái, bai white

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartphækpʰˤrakbodily form or soul
Zhengzhangtʰaːɡ
pʰraːɡ
Unicodepæk

說文解字

陰神也。从鬼白聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)