鼻箫
bí​xiāo

nose flute

鼻 bí nose

Phonosemantic compound. 自 is a pictograph of a nose and 畀 represents the sound.

Components

自
自 Iconic component
zì (nose), self

Depicts a nose.

畀
畀 Sound component
bì to give

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Meaning (1 of 5 verified)

鼾擤劓齄鼽

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

濞劓

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartbjijHCə-bi[t]-s smell (v.t.)
bjijHm-bi[t]-s nose

說文解字

《說文》：“鼻，引气自畀也。从自、畀。”

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)

箫 xiāo bamboo flute Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 肃 represents the sound. Simplified form of 簫.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

肃
肃 Sound component
sù pay respects

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

簫 xiāo bamboo flute Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 肅 represents the sound.

Components

⺮
⺮ Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of 竹.

肅
肅 Sound component
sù pay respects

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsewsˤiwpan-pipe
Zhengzhangsɯːw
Unicodeseu

說文解字

參差管樂。象鳳之翼。从竹肅聲。

Sources

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