鵡

Specifically, the second element in the compound 鸚鵡 (앵무, parrot).

鵡 by itself rarely occurs independently and is almost always found paired with 鸚 to form 鸚鵡, the classical and modern East Asian word for “parrot.”

It literally refers to a talking bird known for its bright plumage and its ability to imitate human speech.

A phono-semantic compound composed of:

鳥 (새 조) — semantic component, denoting “bird.”

武 (호반 무) — phonetic component, providing the sound mu and suggesting liveliness or movement.

Thus, 鵡 means literally “a bird (鳥) named by sound ‘mu’ (武)”, the second morpheme completing the compound 鸚鵡 (“parrot”).

In Kangxi dictionary (康熙字典):

「鵡，鳥名。與鸚連言。」

“鵡 is the name of a bird, always used together with 鸚.”

In Korean and Chinese, 鵡 is never used alone; it is semantically dependent on 鸚.

However, Japanese uses 鸚鵡 (ōmu) as the common term for “parrot,” with 鵡 pronounced mu.

Appears almost exclusively in:

鸚鵡 (앵무) — parrot

鸚鵡螺 (앵무라) — nautilus (literally “parrot shell”)

In Chinese poetry and prose, the parrot (鸚鵡) represents a brilliant but constrained creature, prized for its eloquence yet confined within a golden cage.

The pair of characters 鸚鵡 thus embodies the paradox of articulate imitation without freedom.

「鸚鵡啞啞，金籠夜語。」 《白居易·長恨歌》

“The parrot murmurs within the golden cage at night” (Song of Everlasting Regret)

Here, 鵡 shares with 鸚 the symbolic resonance of refined beauty, sorrow, and mimicry.

「鸚鵡出南海，能言人語。」 《太平御覽》

“The parrot comes from the southern seas and can imitate human speech” (Taiping Yulan).

Together, 鸚鵡 signifies not only the tropical parrot itself but also, in literature, graceful speech and constrained beauty — a bird that speaks eloquently yet remains bound by its gilded cage.