正着
zhèng​zháo

red-handed

正 zhèng, zheng, zhēng correct

Original meaning: to attack (an enemy)

Depicts a foot (止) going out towards city walls (丁). 丁 also represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "to attack (an enemy)", now written as 征. The meaning of this character has shifted over time and now means "correct".

Components

丁
丁 SoundIconic component
dīng cubes

Depicts city walls.

Change in sound
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 丁 than it was in ancient scripts.
止
止 Iconic component
zhǐ (foot), stop

Depicts a foot.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (9 of 12 verified)

定政证整征延症怔焉罡钲鉦

Iconic (1)

征

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

歪

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttsyengC.teŋ 1st (month)
tsyengHteŋ-s correct (adj., v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“正，是也。从止，一以止。，古文正，从二，二，古上字。，古文正，从一、足，足者，亦止也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.120
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

着 zhe, zháo, zhuó [progress particle] Simplified

Original meaning: chopsticks

Simplified form of 著. 艹 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as 箸. The modern meanings are phonetic loans.

Components

艹
艹 MeaningSimplified component
cao, cǎo grass

Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. 艹 and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 艹 than it was in ancient scripts.
者
者 Sound component
zhě one who...

Historical Pronunciations

Middle Chinese
Unicodedjiɑk
djiɑk

Sources

Character origin
Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Readings & variants
Unicode

著 zhe, zháo, zhù [progress particle] Traditional

Original meaning: chopsticks

Phonosemantic compound. 艹 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "chopsticks", now written as 箸. The modern meanings are phonetic loans.

Components

艹
艹 Meaning component
cao, cǎo grass

Alludes to bamboo chopsticks. 艹 and ⺮ (bamboo) were often used interchangeably with each other because of their visual and semantic similarity.

Change in meaning
艹 hints at the original meaning of 著, "chopsticks", which is no longer the most common meaning of 著 in modern Mandarin.
者
者 Sound component
zhě one who...

Character Evolution

Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

躇

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttrjoHt<r>ak-s place (n.); visible
drjakm-t<r>ak put on clothes; be attached
trjakt<r>ak to place

Sources

Character origin
Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica