短袖 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

duǎnxiù

short-sleeved shirt

duǎn short

Phonosemantic compound. 矢 represents the meaning and 豆 represents the sound.

矢 Meaning component

shǐ arrow

豆 Sound component

dòu bean

Change in sound

短 and 豆 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
短 *tˤorʔ
豆 *[N.t]ˤo-s

Regular Modern

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	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	twanX	tˤorʔ	short

《說文》：“短，有所長短，以矢為正。从矢，豆聲。”

Phonosemantic compound. 衤 represents the meaning and 由 represents the sound.

衤 Meaning component

yī clothes

衤 is a component form of 衣.

由 Sound component

yóu cause

Regular Modern

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