句法
jù​fǎ

syntax

句 jù sentence

Original meaning: bent

口 represents the sound and 丩 represents the meaning and the sound.

Components

丩
丩 SoundMeaning component
jiū join
Change in meaning
丩 hints at the original meaning of 句, "bent", which is no longer the most common meaning of 句 in modern Mandarin.
口
口 Sound component
kǒu, kou mouth

Character Evolution

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 Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
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 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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (6 of 20 verified)

局够狗拘苟驹枸劬笱朐岣鸲鼩鉤齣昫𱌮竘駒夠

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

鉤

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkuw[k]ˤ(r)o curved
kuwH[k]ˤ(r)ok-s loan for 彀 draw a bow to the full
kjuH[k](r)o-s phrase

說文解字

《說文》：“句，曲也。从口，丩聲。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.152-153
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

法 fǎ, fa law

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 去 represents the sound. Originally written as 灋.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

Likely alludes to water always flowing in a given path, or water always being flat and level.

去
去 Sound component
qù go away
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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-Sagartpjop[p.k]ap model, law

說文解字

《說文》：“灋，刑也。平之如水，从水；廌，所以觸不直者，去之，从去。法，今文省。佱，古文。”

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)