Character: 窕
Modern (Beijing) reading: tiǎo
Preclassic Old Chinese: Ł(h)ēwʔ
Classic Old Chinese: Ł(h)ḗw
Western Han Chinese: ljā́w (~ Łh-)
Eastern Han Chinese: l(h)iā́w
Early Postclassic Chinese: d(h)iḗw
Middle Postclassic Chinese: d(h)iḗw
Late Postclassic Chinese: d(h)iḗw
Middle Chinese: díew
English meaning : be elegant, beautiful
Russian meaning[s]: 1) тонкий, мелкий; 2) скрытый, глубокий, сокровенный; 3) мягкий, податливый, гибкий; грациозный, изящный; красивый; 4) несерьезный, пустой
Shuowen gloss: 深肆極也.從穴.兆聲.讀若挑.
Comments: Used only in the compound 窈窕 'be elegant, beautiful'. The modern reading tiǎo is irregular (*diào would be expected normally), influenced by cases like 挑眺跳 etc.
Radical: 116
Four-angle index: 7533
Karlgren code: 1145 q
Shijing occurrences: 1.1
