noun
A kanji formed from a semantic component (meaning hint) and a phonetic component (sound hint). This is the most common type of kanji.
「河」は形声文字で、さんずいが意味を、可が音を表す。
「河」 is a semasio-phonetic character: the water radical indicates the meaning, and 可 indicates the sound.
漢字の約九割は形声文字だと言われている。
It is said that about 90% of kanji are semasio-phonetic characters.
Pictographic characters that directly depict objects, unlike 形声文字 which combine meaning and sound components.
Ideographic characters that represent abstract concepts through symbols, not combining semantic and phonetic elements like 形声文字.
Compound ideographs combining two or more semantic components, without a phonetic component as in 形声文字.
From 形声 (けいせい, 'form and sound') + 文字 (もじ, 'character'). The term describes the structure of characters that combine a semantic element with a phonetic element.