簧

huáng

竹 + 黄

Definitions

huáng reed (of a music instrument); spring; coil

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 黄 represents the sound.

Semantic: ⺮ Phonetic: 黄

About

簧 (huáng) is a phonosemantic compound: the top element ⺮ (bamboo) signifies the original material, while 黄 (huáng) supplies the pronunciation. The character first denoted the thin strip of bamboo placed inside a wind instrument that vibrates to create sound, the reed. Because the reed's function depends on elasticity, the character's sense broadened to refer to springs of metal used in mechanical devices (like locks and machinery). It also came to name the metal reeds found in modern instruments such as harmonicas.

Etymology Hide

Bronze Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)

Seal Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical Western Han dynasty (202 BC-9 AD)

Traditional Modern

Simplified Modern

Example Sentences Hide

这个玩具有弹簧。

Zhège wánjù yǒu tánhuáng.

This toy has a spring.

簧片是乐器的一部分。

Huángpiàn shì yuèqì de yī bùfèn.

The reed is part of a musical instrument.

他们表演了一段双簧。

Tāmen biǎoyǎnle yī duàn shuānghuáng.

They performed a double-reed act.

萨克斯是一种簧乐器。

Sàkèsī shì yī zhǒng huáng yuèqì.

The saxophone is a type of reed instrument.

弹簧坏了，需要更换。

Tánhuáng huàile, xūyào gēnghuàn.

The spring is broken and needs to be replaced.

他小心地调整簧片的位置。

Tā xiǎoxīn de tiáozhěng huángpiàn de wèizhì.

He carefully adjusted the position of the reed.

这种簧乐器的声音非常悦耳。

Zhè zhǒng huáng yuèqì de shēngyīn fēichāng yuè'ěr.

The sound of this reed instrument is very pleasing.

工程师设计了新型弹簧以提升性能。

Gōngchéngshī shèjìle xīnxíng tánhuáng yǐ tíshēng xìngnéng.

The engineer designed a new type of spring to improve performance.

Related Characters

Component: 竹

Component: 黄

簧