公开指责 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

gōng public

Original meaning: earthen jar

Pictograph of a earthen jar for holding liquid, now written as 瓮. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.

Components

八 Iconic component

bā eight

Depicts handles of a jar.

口 Iconic component

kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts the opening of a jar.

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 口 than it was in ancient scripts.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (5 of 14 verified)

容松讼翁颂瓮蚣衮忪袞頌訟鈆彸

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kuwng	C.qˤoŋ	impartial, just; public
	kuwng	C.qˤoŋ	father; prince

說文解字

《說文》：“公，平分也。从八、从厶。八，猶背也。韓非曰：‘背厶為公’。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.86-87
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

kāi open Simplified

Simplified form of 開. Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門). The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

Components

門 Deleted component

mén, men door

The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾 Iconic component

gǒng two hands

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

邢趼锎岍汧

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

荆妍

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants: Unicode

zhǐ, zhí, zhī finger

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 旨 represents the sound.

Components

扌 Meaning component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

旨 Sound component

zhǐ purpose

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyijX	mə.kijʔ	finger; point

說文解字

《說文》：“指，手指也。从手，旨聲。”

Sources

Character origin: 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)

zé responsibility Simplified

Original meaning: taxation

Simplified form of 責. Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "taxation". The meaning later shifted to "responsibility".

Components

朿 Sound component

cì thorn, stab

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 朿 than it was in ancient scripts.

貝 Meaning component

bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning

貝 hints at the original meaning of 责, "taxation", which is no longer the most common meaning of 责 in modern Mandarin.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

债绩啧渍碛赜帻箦

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

债

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

kāi open Traditional

Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門).

Components

門 Iconic component

mén, men door

◎ Iconic component

characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾 Iconic component

gǒng two hands

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khoj	Nə-[k]ʰˤəj	to open (v.i.)
	khoj	[k]ʰˤəj	to open (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“開，張也。从門，从幵。，古文開。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

zé responsibility Traditional

Original meaning: taxation

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "taxation". The meaning later shifted to "responsibility".