Definitions

gēng oriole

Etymology phono-semantic

bird

Semantic: Phonetic:

About

The simplified character (traditional ) is a phono-semantic compound that denotes the oriole, specifically the black-naped oriole. Its structure combines the bird radical , indicating an avian meaning, with , a Heavenly Stem that supplies the pronunciation and is positioned above the radical in or to the side in . The character appears most frequently in a classical compound for the oriole found in the Classic of Poetry, and its meaning has remained ornithological throughout its history.