猜测
cāi​cè HSK5

guess

猜 cāi guess

Original meaning: viciously resent

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 青 represents the sound. Meanings derived from resentful suspicion.

Components

犭
犭 Meaning component
quǎn dog

犭(dog, animal) signifies animalistic sentiment.

Change in meaning
犭 hints at the original meaning of 猜, "viciously resent", which is no longer the most common meaning of 猜 in modern Mandarin.
青
青 Sound component
qīng green or blue
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

《說文》：“猜，恨賊也。从犬，青聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

测 cè measure Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 则 represents the sound. Simplified form of 測.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

则
则 Sound component
zé rule

Sources

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

測 cè measure Traditional

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

則
則 Sound component
zé rule

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsrhik[tsʰ]rək fathom (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“測，深所至也。从水，則聲。”

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)