徇私枉法
xùn​sī​wǎng​fǎ

pervert justice

徇 xùn comply with

Phonosemantic compound. 彳 represents the meaning and 旬 represents the sound. Simplified form of 狥.

Components

彳
彳 Meaning component
chì, fú walk

彳 is a component form of 行.

旬
旬 Sound component
xún ten-day period

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzwinHs-[ɢ]ʷi[n]-sgo everywhere
Zhengzhangsɢʷins
Unicodezuìn

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang

私 sī private

Original meaning: grain

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 厶 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "grain". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

禾
禾 Meaning component
hé grain stalk
厶
厶 SoundMeaning component
sī, mǒu private, selfish

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartsij[s]əj private

說文解字

《說文》：“私，禾也。从禾，厶聲。北道名禾主人曰私主人。”

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)

枉 wang useless

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 王 represents the sound.

Components

木
木 Meaning component
mù tree
王
王 Sound component
wáng king

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartʔjwangXqʷaŋʔcrooked; depraved
Zhengzhangqʷaŋʔ
Unicodeqiuɑ̌ng

說文解字

衺曲也。从木㞷聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
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)