葡

A phono-semantic compound:

艸 (grass, plant) — semantic component, indicates a plant or vine

匍 (to crawl; to creep) — phonetic component, provides pronunciation

It clearly marking a creeping or spreading plant, which fits the growth habit of grapevines.

葡 never appears independently in normal usage. It functions as the first component of the binome 葡萄. The second character 萄 reinforces the plant meaning.

This two-character structure reflects how foreign plants were often named in Classical Chinese using phonetic approximation.

포도 (葡萄) — grape

포도주 (葡萄酒) — wine

포도원 (葡萄園) — vineyard

Grapes were introduced to China from Central Asia during the Han dynasty. It became symbols of abundance and luxury in later poetry.

The name 葡萄 is widely believed to be a transliteration of an Iranian or Central Asian word. 葡 and 萄 together preserve this foreign phonetic origin.

Use in transliteration:

葡 is sometimes used as a phonetic element in country names and loanwords:

葡萄牙 (Pútáoyá) — Portugal

Here, 葡 represents the initial sound rather than meaning “grape.”

Related characters:

萄 — the second component of 葡萄

果 — fruit

蔓 — vine

藤 — climbing plant, vine

酒 — wine