一切經音義 31.77

31.77

Silk cocoons (蠶繭: the first character has the fanqie [dza]m + [x]am. The Shuowen jiezi says: "Silkworms are insects that spit silk; it is categorized under 䖵 and phonetic mèi 朁." The character 朁 is pronounced with the fanqie [tsʰ]i + [k]am. The second character has the fanqie [k]en + [t]ian. The Shuowen jiezi says: "The clothing of the silkworm; it is categorized under 糸 and 虫, with mián 芇 as its phonetic." 芇 is pronounced [m]ian, picturing a moth with its two antennae matching each other. In the sūtra text it is written as 蠒, which is a vulgar character; in ancient script it is written as 絸. 䖵 has the sound [k]un).