刻舟求剑 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

kèzhōuqiújiàn HSK7

inflexibility

kè carve

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

Components

亥 Sound component

hài, jiē 12th terrestrial branch

Change in sound

刻 and 亥 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
刻 *[kʰ]ˤək
亥 *[g]ˤəʔ

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

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khok	[kʰ]ˤək	cut, engrave

說文解字

《說文》：“刻，鏤也。从刀，亥聲。”

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)

zhōu boat

Pictograph of a boat.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Qin 221-206 BC

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

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

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Meaning (5 of 34 verified)

船航舰艇艘舱舶舵舷俞舫艄舸舻舢艉艏舨舾艚艟舯舳艨舴舭艋舡舲艦舣艎艙艅 show all 34 show fewer

Iconic (2)

Sound (1)

Simplified (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyuw	tu	boat

說文解字

《說文》：“舟，船也。古者共鼓、貨狄刳木為舟，剡木為楫，以濟不通。象形。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.682-683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)

qiú seek

Pictograph of a crawling insect. The current meaning "seek" or "beg" is a phonetic loan.

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC

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

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

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

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 Qin 221-206 BC

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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (3 of 7 verified)

球救裘俅逑赇捄

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	gjuw	[g](r)u	seek

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica

jiàn sword Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 佥 represents the sound. Simplified form of 劍.

Components

佥 Sound component

qiān together

刂 Meaning component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Sources

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

jiàn sword Traditional

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

Components

僉 Sound component

together

刂 Meaning component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Seal form — Seal Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC

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

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Qin 221-206 BC

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kjaemH	s.kr[a]m-s	sword

說文解字

《說文》：“劒，人所帶兵也。从刃，僉聲。劍，籀文劒从刀。”

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)