穿透辐射
chuān​tòu​fú​shè

penetrating radiation

穿 chuān wear

Original meaning: bore a hole

Alludes to creating a hole (穴) with one's teeth (牙). Based on the original meaning "bore a hole". The meaning later expanded to "pass through" and "wear".

Components

穴
穴 Meaning component
xué, jué cave
牙
牙 Meaning component
yá tooth

Character Evolution

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsyhwentʰo[n] bore through

說文解字

《說文》：“穿，通也。从牙在穴中。”

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)

透 tòu penetrate

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 秀 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

秀
秀 Sound component
xiù elegant, excellent

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangl̥ʰoːs
hljuɡ
Unicodetòu

說文解字

《說文新附》：“透，跳也；過也。从辵，秀聲。”

Sources

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

辐 fú spokes of wheel Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 车 represents the meaning and 畐 represents the sound. Simplified form of 輻.

Components

车
车 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
畐
畐 Sound component
fú, bì to fill

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

射 shè shoot

Depicts a hand (又) pulling back a bowstring (弓) with an arrow (矢) to shoot. Later written as 身 and 寸.

Components

弓
弓 Iconic component
gōng bow

Depicts a bow.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 弓 than it was in ancient scripts.
矢
矢 IconicRemnant component
shǐ arrow

Depicts an arrow.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 矢 than it was in ancient scripts.
寸
寸 Iconic component
cùn, cun (hand), inch

Originally 又 but later reanalyzed as 寸. Depicts a hand.


Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (4 of 6 verified)

谢麝榭謝睪𠬤

Remnant (2)

睪𠬤

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartzyaeHCə.lAk-s shoot; archer
zyekCə.lAk hit with bow and arrow

說文解字

《說文》：“，弓弩發於身而中於遠也。从矢，从身。射，篆文从寸。寸，法度也，亦手也。”

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)

輻 fú spokes of wheel Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 車 represents the meaning and 畐 represents the sound.

Components

車
車 Meaning component
chē cart, vehicle
畐
畐 Sound component
fú, bì to fill

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartpjuwkpəkspokes of a wheel
Zhengzhangpɯɡs
pɯɡ

說文解字

輪轑也。从車畐聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)