<p>「网」 is listed under the phonetic series of 「亡」, because the word which 「网」 represented (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Zhengzhang_(1981%E2%80%931995)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Zhengzhang OC</a>: <strong>/*mlaŋʔ/</strong>, <em>hunting and fishing net</em>) was written with at least 3 different variants (网、罔、網), and the latter two in this list of 3 include 「亡」 (<strong>/*maŋ/</strong>) as a phonetic component.</p>
<hr />
<p>Wiktionary's phonetic series comes from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhengzhang_Shangfang" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Zhèngzhāng Shàngfāng</a>'s <em>Old Chinese Phonology (2003)</em> (鄭張尚芳《上古音系》). In this title, the phonetic series for 「亡」 is listed under Heading <em>W</em> (for pinyin <strong>Wáng</strong>) in Appendix IV (page 484):</p>
<blockquote>
<p>喪　心唐 c1 開蘇浪　亡陽　　smaaŋs　<sub>說文从亡亡亦聲，甲文借桑字，金文始加亡</sub><br />
...<br />
亡　微陽 a3 合武方　亡陽　　maŋ<br />
...<br />
网　微陽 b3 合文兩　亡陽　　mlaŋʔ<br />
罔　微陽 b3 合文兩　亡陽　　mlaŋʔ　<sub>亦同網</sub><br />
...<br />
網　微陽 b3 合文兩　亡陽　　mlaŋʔ　<sub>同网</sub></p>
</blockquote>
<p>The word <strong>/*mlaŋʔ/</strong> (<em>hunting and fishing net</em>) is listed <em>three</em> times (网、罔、網) in this phonetic series, reflecting the complexification that this character went through over time:</p>
<div class="s-table-container"><table class="s-table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">時期<br>字體</th>
<th style="text-align: center;">字形丨<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liding" rel="nofollow noreferrer">隸定</a></th>
<th style="text-align: center;">參考資料</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">商</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">甲</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/1RT95K3L.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/1RT95K3L.png" alt="冈" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">甲</a>3112<br><a href="https://www.guoxuedashi.net/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=10514&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集10514</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">商<br>甲</td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/HANEEvOy.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HANEEvOy.png" alt="网" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">庫</a>653<br>合集40757</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period" rel="nofollow noreferrer">戰國</a>・<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_(state)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">楚</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips" rel="nofollow noreferrer">簡</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/gwLkbirI.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/gwLkbirI.png" alt="" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">56.31<br>九店竹簡</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">秦</a><br>簡</td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/KPYDBlZG.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/KPYDBlZG.png" alt="" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">秦</a>5<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuihudi_Qin_bamboo_texts" rel="nofollow noreferrer">睡虎地秦簡</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty#Eastern_Han_(25%E2%80%93220_AD)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">東漢</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">隸</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/JfXqZBA2.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/JfXqZBA2.png" alt="罔" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">論語・爲政<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiping_Stone_Classics" rel="nofollow noreferrer">熹平石經</a></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table></div>
<p>Here, the character was originally a picture of a <em>net</em>, written variously as 「冈」, 「网」, or similar. Possibly due to confusion with other similar shapes such as <a href="https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=76" rel="nofollow noreferrer">「五」</a>, a phonetic <a href="https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=33" rel="nofollow noreferrer">「亾・亡」</a> (<strong>/*maŋ/</strong>) was added later on, forming 「罔」.</p>
<p>「網」 (not shown) is a much later complexification via addition of semantic 「糸」 (<em>threads</em>, indicating the manufacturing material for the net), after 「罔」 came to taken on a phonetic loan role (<em>to not have; to deceive</em>).</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-10T07:55:50.287Z
2024-12-10T08:05:17.770Z
2024-12-10T08:05:17.770Z
dROOOze
<p>It is not a mistake, 亡 and 网 are same in  sound, only in differently 声调.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-09T16:59:49.143Z
2024-12-09T16:59:49.143Z
sfy
<p>或许可能是 <strong>网</strong> 和 <strong>亡</strong> 的声母韵母都是wang，所以把他们放到一起了。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-05T12:03:20.017Z
2024-12-05T12:03:20.017Z
Tom
<p>On <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:About_Chinese/phonetic_series" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikitionary's page</a> about phonetic series under the 亡 entry we find 网 even though 网 is described to be a pictogram on it's own <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%BD%91#Chinese" rel="nofollow noreferrer">wikitionary page</a>.</p>
<p>If we look on wikipedia's <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonetic_series_(Chinese_characters)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">page about Phonetic series</a>, it says &quot;phonological series is a set of Chinese characters sharing the same sound-based element&quot;. I would expect this means the character needs to have the sound-based element as it's component.</p>
<p>Is this a mistake or is there another reason they are consider part of the same phonetic series?</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-03T02:29:33.057Z
Ah I'm silly, 网 the radical probably isn't part of the phonetic series, only 网 the character, which in traditional was 網 which contains 亡
Winter
CC BY-SA 4.0
2024-12-03T02:30:38.763Z
I was about to type a comment indicating the same thing. If the title where Wiktionary got the phonetic series from (Zhengzhang, Shangfang (鄭張尚芳) (2003). 上古音系 (Old Chinese Phonology)) uses 網 instead of 网, then 网 is just a duplicate entry.
dROOOze
<characters><etymology><glyph-origin><phonology>
Why is 网 considered inside the 亡 phonetic series on wikitionary?
# Why is 网 considered inside the 亡 phonetic series on wikitionary?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2024-12-03)

On [wikitionary's page](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Wiktionary:About_Chinese/phonetic_series) about phonetic series under the 亡 entry we find 网 even though 网 is described to be a pictogram on it's own [wikitionary page](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%BD%91#Chinese).

If we look on wikipedia's [page about Phonetic series](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phonetic_series_(Chinese_characters)), it says "phonological series is a set of Chinese characters sharing the same sound-based element". I would expect this means the character needs to have the sound-based element as it's component.

Is this a mistake or is there another reason they are consider part of the same phonetic series?

**Tags:** characters, etymology, glyph-origin, phonology

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Ah I'm silly, 网 the radical probably isn't part of the phonetic series, only 网 the character, which in traditional was 網 which contains 亡  
> **username_1**: I was about to type a comment indicating the same thing. If the title where Wiktionary got the phonetic series from (Zhengzhang, Shangfang (鄭張尚芳) (2003). 上古音系 (Old Chinese Phonology)) uses 網 instead of 网, then 网 is just a duplicate entry.  

---

## 3 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2024-12-10. Score: 2 | Accepted answer

「网」 is listed under the phonetic series of 「亡」, because the word which 「网」 represented ([Zhengzhang OC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Zhengzhang_(1981%E2%80%931995)): **/\*mlaŋʔ/**, *hunting and fishing net*) was written with at least 3 different variants (网、罔、網), and the latter two in this list of 3 include 「亡」 (**/\*maŋ/**) as a phonetic component.

---

Wiktionary's phonetic series comes from [Zhèngzhāng Shàngfāng](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zhengzhang_Shangfang)'s *Old Chinese Phonology (2003)* (鄭張尚芳《上古音系》). In this title, the phonetic series for 「亡」 is listed under Heading *W* (for pinyin **Wáng**) in Appendix IV (page 484):

> 喪　心唐 c1 開蘇浪　亡陽　　smaaŋs　說文从亡亡亦聲，甲文借桑字，金文始加亡  
> ...  
> 亡　微陽 a3 合武方　亡陽　　maŋ  
> ...  
> 网　微陽 b3 合文兩　亡陽　　mlaŋʔ  
> 罔　微陽 b3 合文兩　亡陽　　mlaŋʔ　亦同網  
> ...  
> 網　微陽 b3 合文兩　亡陽　　mlaŋʔ　同网

The word **/\*mlaŋʔ/** (*hunting and fishing net*) is listed *three* times (网、罔、網) in this phonetic series, reflecting the complexification that this character went through over time:

| 時期 字體 | 字形丨[隸定](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liding) | 參考資料 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [商](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty) [甲](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script) | [冈](https://i.sstatic.net/1RT95K3L.png) | [甲](https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference)3112 [合集10514](https://www.guoxuedashi.net/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&bh=10514&jgwfl=) |
| 商 甲 | [网](https://i.sstatic.net/HANEEvOy.png) | [庫](https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference)653 合集40757 |
| [戰國](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period)・[楚](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_(state)) [簡](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips) |  | 56.31 九店竹簡 |
| [秦](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty) 簡 |  | [秦](https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference)5 [睡虎地秦簡](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuihudi_Qin_bamboo_texts) |
| [東漢](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Han_dynasty#Eastern_Han_(25%E2%80%93220_AD)) [隸](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script) | [罔](https://i.sstatic.net/JfXqZBA2.png) | 論語・爲政 [熹平石經](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xiping_Stone_Classics) |

Here, the character was originally a picture of a *net*, written variously as 「冈」, 「网」, or similar. Possibly due to confusion with other similar shapes such as [「五」](https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=76), a phonetic [「亾・亡」](https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=33) (**/\*maŋ/**) was added later on, forming 「罔」.

「網」 (not shown) is a much later complexification via addition of semantic 「糸」 (*threads*, indicating the manufacturing material for the net), after 「罔」 came to taken on a phonetic loan role (*to not have; to deceive*).


---

### Answer by username_2 on 2024-12-09. Score: -1

It is not a mistake, 亡 and 网 are same in sound, only in differently 声调.


---

### Answer by username_3 on 2024-12-05. Score: -1

或许可能是 **网** 和 **亡** 的声母韵母都是wang，所以把他们放到一起了。


---

