Definitions

name of a lake

Etymology phono-semantic

place

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

A phono-semantic compound, combines the right-side semantic radical (city, settlement) with the phonetic , which indicates the pronunciation. It is used exclusively as a proper noun for geographic names, most notably Poyang County and adjacent Poyang Lake, China's largest freshwater lake. While ordinarily means 'repetition' or 'foreignness,' it serves purely as a phonetic element here, not contributing its original meaning. As a specialized geographic identifier, the character has never acquired secondary or metaphorical meanings.

Etymology Hide

Bronze etymology image
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn (~500 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)
Seal etymology image
Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)
Traditional Modern
Simplified Modern