In oracle bone script and seal script, 兹 depicts two strands of twisted silk. It is the cognate of 丝. In clerical script, 艹 is added to express the meaning that the grass grows like strands of silk. Continue reading “兹 two strands of twisted silk”
Category: Character Components
系 a hand holding two strands of silk
系 is a compound ideograph representing a hand holding two strands of silk. In bronze scripts, it depicts a hand holding three strands of silk. In seal and regular scripts, two strands of silk is changed to one strand and the form of hand 爪 is changed to丿, which means “tie or knot” Continue reading “系 a hand holding two strands of silk”
己 a curved rope
己 is a pictographic character, resembling a curved rope. 己 mainly serves as a phonetic component to form characters and also serves as a semantic component to express things related to a baby or infant. Continue reading “己 a curved rope”
于 airflow passing obstacles
于 is a pictographic character. In oracle bone, the character depicts the airflow passing obstacles. For its original meaning, there are also other different versions. 于 serves as a phonetic component to form characters. Continue reading “于 airflow passing obstacles”
由 small pathway leading to the fields
The original meaning of 由 is a small pathway leading to the fields. 由serves as a phonetic component to form characters. Continue reading “由 small pathway leading to the fields”