冲决
chōng​jué

burst

冲 chōng, chòng flush, wash away Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 冫 represents the meaning and 中 represents the sound. Simplified form of 沖 and 衝.

Components

冫
冫 Simplified component
bīng ice

Simplified from the traditional 氵 (water) component.

中
中 Sound component
zhōng, zhòng central

Sources

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

决 jué decide Simplified

Simplified form of 決. Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "burst open". The meaning later shifted to "clear", "cut off", "decide" and "judge".

Components

冫
冫 Simplified component
bīng ice

Shorthand for the 氵 component in the traditional character 決. 氵 is a component form of 水.

夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

沖 chōng, chòng flush, wash away Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 中 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

中
中 Sound component
zhōng, zhòng central

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjuwng[d]ruŋ sound of cutting ice

說文解字

《說文》：“沖，涌搖也。从水、中。讀若動。”

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)

決 jué decide Traditional

Original meaning: burst open

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 夬 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "burst open". The meaning later shifted to "clear", "cut off", "decide" and "judge".

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

夬
夬 Sound component
guài, jué parted
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkwet[k]ʷˤet open a passage for a stream
kwet[k]ʷˤet open; decide

說文解字

《說文》：“決，行流也。从水，从夬。廬江有決水，出於大別山。”

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)