刺探
cì​tàn

pry

刺 cì stab

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound.

Components

朿
朿 SoundIconic component
cì thorn, stab

Pictograph of a thorned weapon or plant.

刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

莿

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

莿

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttshjeH[tsʰ]ek-s sharp point, thorn
tshjek[tsʰ]ek pierce, stab

說文解字

《說文》：“刺，君殺大夫曰刺。刺，直傷也。从刀，从朿，朿亦聲。”

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)

探 tàn, tan explore, find

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

罙
罙 Sound component
shēn deep
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthoml̥ˤ[ə]m put the hand into and test

說文解字

《說文》：“，遠取之也。从手，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)