理所当然 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

lǐ, li reason

Original meaning: cut jade

Phonosemantic compound. 𤣩 represents the meaning and 里 represents the sound.

Components

𤣩 Meaning component

yù jade

𤣩 is a component form of 玉.

Change in meaning

𤣩 hints at the original meaning of 理, "cut jade", which is no longer the most common meaning of 理 in modern Mandarin.

里 Sound component

lǐ, li village

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	liX	m(ə).rəʔ	cut jade; regulate
	liX	m(ə).rəʔ	reason; principle

說文解字

《說文》：“理，治玉也。从玉，里聲。”

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)

suǒ place

Origin unclear. 戶 represents the sound.

Components

戶 Sound component

hù, hu door

Change in sound

所 and 戶 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
所 xuX
戶 huX

斤 Meaning component

jīn axe

The original purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	srjoX	s-qʰ<r>aʔ	place (n.); that which
	xuX	qʰaʔ	所所 = 許許 = 滸滸 sound of hewing wood

說文解字

《說文》：“所，伐木聲也。从斤，戶聲。”

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)

dāng, dàng, dang to match Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 田 represents the meaning and 尚 represents the sound. The simplified character 当 was adapted from the cursive form of the traditional character 當.

Components

彐 Simplified component

jì snout

Shorthand for the 田 component in the traditional character 當.

尚 Sound Simplified Remnant component

shàng, shang esteem

Shorthand for the 尚 component in the traditional character 當.

Component uses

Sound (2 of 6 verified)

档挡裆铛筜𪠽

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

挡

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode

rán, ran yes

Original meaning: burn

Phonosemantic compound. 灬 represents the meaning and 肰 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "burn", now written as 燃. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.