包, cognate of 胞, originally meant a fetus in the embryonic membranes, a meaning later replaced by 胞. It serves as phonetic component to form characters.
Category: Character Components
建 legislate
建 is a compound ideographic character, composed of 廴 and 聿. 廴 means walking and suggests the meaning of action; 聿 means writing brush and suggest the meaning of the law; hence 建 means “to establish the law/legislate”. 建 serves as a phonetic component to form characters. Continue reading “建 legislate”
聿 writing brush
聿, cognate of 筆(笔), originally a writing brush. In oracle bone script and bronze script, 聿 
was like a hand hold a writing brush. It serves as phonetic as well as semantic component to form characters. Continue reading “聿 writing brush”
丬cognate of 爿
丬, cognate of 爿, has the same origin as 爿, serves as a semantic component to form characters. Both 丬and 爿 denote wood or things related to wood. Continue reading “丬cognate of 爿”
古 ancient
古 is a compound ideograph. 古 = 十 + 口. 十 means countless in ancient Chinese; 口 is a mouth. 古 depicts that ancient stories were told by countless people and passed down through generations, so the original meaning of 古 is “ancient/old”.