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.
How to use 几多?
几 and 多 can combine to form a special word 几多 that can be used as an interrogative pronoun or adverb. As a pronoun, its meaning is equivalent to “how many/much 多少”, but it’s far less often used than 多少. Continue reading “How to use 几多?”
夙 morning——why 夙愿？
When the moon is still hanging in the sky and the sun is not out yet, a man begins to work hard. 夙 on the oracle bone script reflects this scene to express the meaning of “morning”. Continue reading “夙 morning——why 夙愿？”
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”