鸦嘴卷尾
yā​zuǐ​juǎn​wěi

crow-billed drongo

鸦 yā crow Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 牙 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鴉.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
牙
牙 Sound component
yá tooth

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

嘴 zuǐ mouth

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

Components

口
口 Meaning component
kǒu, kou mouth
觜
觜 SoundMeaning component
zuǐ, zī beak

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangʔseʔ
Unicodetziuɛ̌

Sources

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

卷 juǎn, juàn curl, roll

Phonosemantic compound. 龹 represents the sound and 卩 represents the meaning.

Components

龹
龹 Sound component
juǎn to roll rice into a ball
卩
卩 Meaning component
jié person kneeling

Depicts a person with bent knees.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (2 of 9 verified)

圈倦蜷绻鬈锩綣惓捲

Meaning (2 of 5 verified)

圈倦蜷鬈捲

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjwenX[k](r)o[n]ʔ roll (v.)
gjwen[g]ʷren handsome

說文解字

《說文》：“卷，厀曲也。从卪，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)

尾 wěi tail

Depicts fur (毛) protruding from the posterior of a person (尸) wearing a decorative tail.

Components

尸
尸 Iconic component
shī sitting person

Depicts a person sitting or squatting.

毛
毛 Iconic component
máo, mao hair

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (3 of 4 verified)

属屈艉屬

Sound (1 of 3 verified)

犀娓艉

Remnant (1)

屈

Iconic (1)

隶

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartmj+jX[m]əjʔ tail

說文解字

《說文》：“尾，微也。从到毛在尸後。古人或飾系尾，西南夷亦然。”

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)

鴉 yā crow Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 牙 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
牙
牙 Sound component
yá tooth

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartʔæqˤraraven, crow
Zhengzhangqraː
Unicodeqa

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang