Definitions

an ancient tribe in China

Etymology phono-semantic

people

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The character is a relatively modern phono-semantic compound, combining the person radical , which suggests a link to people or ethnic groups, with the phonetic component . It was created to transcribe ethnic names in southwestern China and Southeast Asia, most famously the historical name for the Wa people. Since it functions solely as a phonetic tool for these proper nouns, it has no independent meaning or historical etymology.