shè​kē

social science

shè society

Original meaning: god of soil

Originally depicted a god () of the soil (). The meaning later shifted to "shrine", "congregation", and "society".

Components

Meaning component
shì show

is a component form of .

SoundMeaning component
earth
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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 Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzyaeXm-tʰAʔ sacrifice to the spirit of the soil

說文解字

《說文》:“社,地主也。从示、土。《春秋傳》曰:‘共工之子句龍為社神。’《周禮》:‘二十五家為社,各樹其土所宜之木。’,古文社。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

section

Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning. Depicts measuring out grain () with a dipper ().

Components

SoundMeaning component
grain stalk
Meaning component
dòu ladle

Character Evolution

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

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangkʰoːl
kʰoːls
Unicodekuɑ

說文解字

《說文》:“科,程也。从禾,从斗。斗者,量也。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica