勿 is compound ideograph, depicting a knife cutting off the useless things such as melon skin, vegetable roots, etc. 勿 serves as a phonetic component to form characters. Continue reading “勿 a knife cutting off the useless things”
Category: Compound ideographs
兹 two strands of twisted silk
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”
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”
逐 a foot is pursuing a pig
This character 逐 is very interesting. 逐 is compound ideographic character composed of 辶 and 豕. 辶 is a variant of 辵 and means “foot, walking”. 豕 is a pig. Continue reading “逐 a foot is pursuing a pig”
包 a fetus in the fetal membranes
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.