李 lǐ — plum · English

李

lǐ

plum

At a glance · 李

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Evolution of the glyph

Five stages, from a sketch of the real object to regular script — tap a stage, drag the timeline, or play the animation.

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seen
Oracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCE
Seal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCE
Clerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CE
Regular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

Object sketchBefore writing · drawing what was seenOracle boneShang dynasty · c. 1300–1046 BCESeal scriptQin dynasty · 221–206 BCEClerical scriptHan dynasty · 206 BCE–220 CERegular scriptWei–Jin to Tang · c. 3rd–9th century CE

⚠ Some ancient forms are not attested：oracle bone form。No excavated oracle bone / seal artifact is attested for this character yet; we leave it blank rather than fabricate.

李字小篆从木子声，为形声字；本义为李树、李子。甲骨文未见。

What the sketch shows

Origins & notes

李本义为李子树及其果实。

Structure

形声字，上部『木』为意符表树木，下部『子』为声符。

At a glance

Pinyinlǐ

Radical木

Strokes7

UnicodeU+674E

Character type形声

Theme植物

Six languages, one character

Each page offers hreflang versions; switching language keeps the glyphs and meanings aligned.

English plum Li is a phonetic-semantic character meaning the plum tree and its fruit.

Français prune Li est un caractère phonético-sémantique signifiant le prunier et son fruit.

Español ciruela Li es un carácter fonosemántico que significa el ciruelo y su fruto.

العربية برقوق لي حرف صوتي دلالي يعني شجرة البرقوق وثمرها.

Русский слива Ли — фоносемантический знак, означающий сливу и её плод.

Common words

李子lǐ ziplum
桃李táo lǐpeaches and plums

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