Definitions
Etymology phono-semantic
fire
About
The character 烃 is a modern phono-semantic compound, coined for organic chemistry to represent a hydrocarbon, a compound consisting solely of carbon and hydrogen. Its semantic component, 火 (huǒ, 'fire'), was chosen to evoke the high flammability of hydrocarbons. The right side is the phonetic: simplified 𢀖 (tīng); the traditional form 烴 uses 巠 (jīng) instead. The pronunciation 'tīng' was coined by blending the initial sound of 碳 (tàn, carbon) with the final of 氢 (qīng, hydrogen), and the character is used exclusively in scientific and industrial contexts.
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