侦讯 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

zhēn spy Simplified

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

person

贞 Sound component

zhēn, zhēng virtuous

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

xùn inquire Simplified

Simplified form of 訊. Depicts a mouth (口) interrogating a captured prisoner of war (卂). 卂 also represents the sound. The 口 (mouth) component was later reanalyzed as 讠 (speech).

Components

讠 Iconic component

yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言. Originally 口 (mouth). Later reanalyzed as 讠 (speech).

卂 Sound Iconic component

xùn to fly rapidly

Depicts a captive prisoner with their hands tied behind their back.

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫中華語文知識庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

zhēn spy Traditional

Components

亻 Meaning component

rén person

person

貞 Sound component

virtuous

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	rtaːŋs
	tʰeŋ
	tʰeŋs

說文解字

問也。从人貞聲。

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

xùn inquire Traditional

Depicts a mouth (口) interrogating a captured prisoner of war (卂). 卂 also represents the sound. The 口 (mouth) component was later reanalyzed as 言 (speech).