Original meaning: to strike a musical instrument
Depicts a hand holding a mallet or stick (殳) striking a musical instrument. The component originally depicting a musical instrument was later reanalyzed as a sound component (𡉉). Based on the original meaning "to strike a musical instrument". The meaning later shifted to "to strike from above".
Components
Character Evolution
Component uses
說文解字
《說文》:“,从上擊下也。一曰素也。从殳,聲。段玉裁注:“俗作‘殼’,或作‘’。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.227Wiktionary
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)