| Shang (Bin) | Shang (Shi) | Shang (Wuming) | Shang (Wuming) | Early W.Zhou | Middle W.Zhou | Late W.Zhou | Qin | W.Han | E.Han | Tang |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 合17066 | 合11550 | 合27317 | 合30774 | 集5416.1 [炎] | 近二438 [燹] | 第三屆321頁 [焂] | 睡.日乙113 | 北.蒼72 | 熹經290 [狄] | 九經字樣 |
{火} *s.mˤəjʔ “fire”
Depiction of a flame. Later decorative dots were added (probably to differentiate it from 山).
| Shang (Shi) | Shang (Bin) | Early W.Zhou | Middle W.Zhou | Qin | Qin | Han | Han | W.Han | Han | Nanbei (N.Wei) | Tang |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 合20354 | 合3457 | 集5429.1 | 集2824 | 秦新1130 | 陶錄6.319.1 | 徵存656 | 薤書28.3 | 馬.胎27 | 武醫42 | 元悌墓誌 | 五經文字 |
{烏} *[ʔ]ˤa “crow”
Depiction of a bird with its head tilted back and its beak wide open.
Forms:
乌 - Shortening based on the cursive form. Modern simplified form in China.
| Shang | Shang (Bin) | Early W.Zhou | Middle W.Zhou | Zhanguo (Chu) | Zhanguo (Chu) | Zhanguo (Chu) | Qin | W.Han | E.Han | Nanbei (N.Wei) | Tang |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| 集6183 [能] | 合1112 [罷] | 集5984 [能] | 集10175 | 葛陵零2 | 包156 | 清七.晉文6 | 秦印編200 | 張.引101 | 五.行90 | 南0293X | 開石.爾雅4 |
{熊} *[t.w]əm “bear” / {熊(熊)} *[t.w]əm “flaming” ♪→ {熊} *[t.w]əm “bear”
Initially the word {熊} “bear” was written as 能 or a similar glyph (depiction of a bear). Later an unknown element was added (> 大). The modern character comes either from the distortion 大 > 火 with shifting it to the bottom, or from the shortening of the glyph ⿱⿱大能火 (火 FIRE + ♪⿱大能(熊) *WƏM) for {熊(熊)} “flaming”.