Dong Chinese dictionary

yín

silver

Phonosemantic compound. 釒 represents the meaning and 艮 represents the sound.

Components

釒 Meaning component

jīn

metal

釒 is a component form of 金.

艮 Sound component

gěn, gèn

blunt

銀 and 艮 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

yín

silver; cash, money, wealth; silver-colored; relating to money or currency

Most common words with 銀

Sources