Dong Chinese dictionary

suī

although

Original meaning:

type of lizard

Phonosemantic compound. 虫 represents the meaning and 唯 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "type of lizard". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

虫 Meaning component

chóng

bug, insect

虫 hints at the original meaning of 雖, "type of lizard", which is no longer the most common meaning of 雖 in modern Mandarin.

唯 Sound component

wéi, wěi

only

雖 and 唯 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.雖 /*s-qʷij/
唯 /*ɢʷij (< *ɢʷuj?)/

Evolution