一切經音義 19.47

19.47

Mosquitoes and horseflies (蚊蝱: the upper character is [pronounced] with the fanqie of 勿 and 分; the lower character with the fanqie of 孟 and 耕. The Kaosheng says: "The name of an insect." The Shenglei says: "A horsefly resembles a fly but is larger." The Shuowen says: "Mosquitoes and horseflies are both biting, flying insects." 蚊 is sometimes written with the radical 䖵 as 蟁, also written as 𨷷, or written as 𱢳; these are all ancient character forms. 蝱 has the radical 䖵 and 亡 as phonetic. In the scriptures it is written as 蝱, which is a vulgar character, yet having been in long-standing use it is difficult to alter. 䖵 has the sound of 昆).