叶

葉

xié, yè

十 + 口

Definitions

yè (noun) leaf; page

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and 十 represents the sound. Originally a variant of 協 (cooperate). Later used as the simplified form of the phonetically similar character 葉 (leaf).

About

The simplified character 叶, originally a phonosemantic compound combining the mouth radical 口 (meaning) and 十 (sound), served as a variant of 協 (cooperate) before being adopted as the simplified form of 葉 due to their phonetic similarity. The traditional 葉 is built from the grass radical 艹, indicating plants, with the phonetic 枼. Now carrying all meanings of 葉, the character refers to a leaf, extends to flat, leaf-like objects such as pages or gold leaf, and also functions as a surname and a term for historical periods.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Spring and Autumn (771-476 BC)

Bronze Late Warring States (~250 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Clerical Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

树叶是绿色的。

Shùyè shì lǜsè de.

Leaves are green.

秋天叶子变黄了。

Qiūtiān yèzi biàn huáng le.

In autumn, leaves turn yellow.

我喜欢收集美丽的树叶。

Wǒ xǐhuān shōují měilì de shùyè.

I like collecting beautiful leaves.

茶叶来自茶树。

Cháyè láizì cháshù.

Tea leaves come from tea plants.

叶教授是著名的科学家。

Yè jiàoshòu shì zhùmíng de kēxuéjiā.

Professor Ye is a famous scientist.

这片叶子的形状很独特。

Zhè piàn yèzi de xíngzhuàng hěn dútè.

The shape of this leaf is very unique.

叶绿素是植物进行光合作用的关键。

Yèlǜsù shì zhíwù jìnxíng guānghé zuòyòng de guānjiàn.

Chlorophyll is key for plants to perform photosynthesis.

在显微镜下，叶细胞的结构清晰可见。

Zài xiǎnwēijìng xià, yè xìbāo de jiégòu qīngxī kějiàn.

Under the microscope, the structure of leaf cells is clearly visible.

Related Characters

Component: 十

Component: 口

叶