Dong Chinese dictionary

bēi

cup

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 不 represents the sound.

Components

木 Meaning component

mù

tree

不 Sound component

bù

杯 and 不 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.杯 /*pˤə/
不 /*pə/, /*pə/

Evolution

Seal script

Chu (Warring States: 475-221 BC)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

bēi

cup, glass; cup; trophy cup; classifier for certain containers of liquids: glass, cup

bēi

variant of 杯[bēi]

Most common words with 杯

Sources