<p>Not only 蓝 looked like 篮, but there are also thousands of characters that looked similar to one another because there is a lot of 形聲字 (pictophonetic characters) in Chinese.</p>
<p>In those characters, one of the components is borrowed from another character for phonetic reasons only. The meaning of the borrowed component is irrelevant to the character that borrowed it.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-29T09:59:45.523Z
I was actually wondering if there were some historical reasons why may have included a blue basket, or something of that kind. Thanks!
Joris Limonier
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-29T09:42:26.313Z
2021-12-29T09:48:49.380Z
2021-12-29T09:48:49.380Z
Tang Ho
<p>The reason is that chinese characters are composed of <strong>components</strong> that bring the <em>meaning</em> and/or <em>sound</em>.</p>
<p>In this case, both:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>蓝 - lán - <em>blue</em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>篮 - lán - <em>basket</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>share the component:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>监 - jiān - <em>supervise, control</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>that gives the <strong>sound</strong> of the characters.</p>
<p>But they differ on the other component:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>艹 - cǎo - <em>grass</em></p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>竹 - zhú- <em>bamboo</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>that gives the <strong>meaning</strong> of the characters:</p>
<ul>
<li>the color blue was originally made with plants (<em>grass</em>).</li>
<li>a basket was an object with handles mostly made from <em>bamboo</em>.</li>
</ul>
<p>Source: Skritter app.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-30T20:24:10.527Z
Just a quick correction: Characters are not composed of radicals, but components. Every character has one radical, but could have more than one component. The Chinese word (部首) that is translated as "radical" is "section heading" when literally translated, and is literally the heading of a section of a dictionary. What you are describing as indicating sound/meaning in a character are the components of that character. I know this seems pedantic, but I have seen enough people confused at a practical level (i.e. not just by arbitrary labelling) that this seems worth mentioning.
2ndQuantized
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-31T11:49:13.493Z
@2ndQuantized Ah thank you for the clarification, I fixed it now in the answer. I agree is better to not confuse the terminology.
Puco4
CC BY-SA 4.0
2021-12-30T09:05:05.853Z
2021-12-31T11:47:02.763Z
2021-12-31T11:47:02.763Z
Puco4
<p>Is there a reason why 蓝 (as in 蓝色 = blue) and 篮 (as in 篮球 = basketball) look so similar, or is it just a coincidence?</p>

<meaning><difference><glyph-origin>
Why do 蓝 and 篮 look so similar?
# Why do 蓝 and 篮 look so similar?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-12-29)

Is there a reason why 蓝 (as in 蓝色 = blue) and 篮 (as in 篮球 = basketball) look so similar, or is it just a coincidence?

**Tags:** meaning, difference, glyph-origin


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2021-12-30. Score: 3 | Accepted answer

The reason is that chinese characters are composed of **components** that bring the *meaning* and/or *sound*.

In this case, both:

> 蓝 - lán - *blue*

> 篮 - lán - *basket*

share the component:

> 监 - jiān - *supervise, control*

that gives the **sound** of the characters.

But they differ on the other component:

> 艹 - cǎo - *grass*

> 竹 - zhú- *bamboo*

that gives the **meaning** of the characters:

* the color blue was originally made with plants (*grass*).
* a basket was an object with handles mostly made from *bamboo*.

Source: Skritter app.

> **Comments:**
> **username_3**: Just a quick correction: Characters are not composed of radicals, but components. Every character has one radical, but could have more than one component. The Chinese word (部首) that is translated as "radical" is "section heading" when literally translated, and is literally the heading of a section of a dictionary. What you are describing as indicating sound/meaning in a character are the components of that character. I know this seems pedantic, but I have seen enough people confused at a practical level (i.e. not just by arbitrary labelling) that this seems worth mentioning.  
> **username_2**: @username_3 Ah thank you for the clarification, I fixed it now in the answer. I agree is better to not confuse the terminology.  

---

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-12-29. Score: 1

Not only 蓝 looked like 篮, but there are also thousands of characters that looked similar to one another because there is a lot of 形聲字 (pictophonetic characters) in Chinese.

In those characters, one of the components is borrowed from another character for phonetic reasons only. The meaning of the borrowed component is irrelevant to the character that borrowed it.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I was actually wondering if there were some historical reasons why may have included a blue basket, or something of that kind. Thanks!  

---

