Dong Chinese dictionary

wéi

but

to think

Phonosemantic compound. 忄 represents the meaning and 隹 represents the sound. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

忄 Meaning component

xin, xīn

heart

忄 is a component form of 心.

忄 hints at the original meaning of 惟, "to think", which is no longer the most common meaning of 惟 in modern Mandarin.

隹 Sound component

zhuī

bird

惟 and 隹 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.惟 /*ɢʷij/
隹 /*tur/

Evolution

Bronze script

Early Western Zhou (~1000 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

wéi

but, however, nevertheless; only; -ism

Most common words with 惟

Component uses

Sound component in 1 character (0 verified)

Sources

李学勤《字源》p.932