Original meaning: air
Originally a variant of 气, which depicts a gust of air. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.
Character Evolution
Component uses
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | khj+t | C.qʰət | beg, ask |
Sources
- Character origin
- 季旭昇《說文新證》p.58-59漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
Simplified
Traditional
Original meaning: manage, govern
Depicts using speech (言) and one's hands (寸) to manage or govern. The meaning later shifted to "discuss" and "ask for".
Components
Character Evolution
Historical Pronunciations
| Middle Chinese | Old Chinese | Gloss | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Baxter-Sagart | thawX | [t]ʰˤuʔ | examine; denounce |
說文解字
《說文》：“討，治也。从言，从寸。”
Sources
- Character origin
- 李学勤《字源》p.193-194漢語多功能字庫
- Readings & variants
- Unicode
- Historical pronunciations
- Baxter-Sagart
- Historical images
- Academia Sinica
- Etymology
- Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)