裂开
liè​kāi

split open

裂 liè split

Phonosemantic compound. 衣 represents the meaning and 列 represents the sound.

Components

衣
衣 Meaning component
yī clothes
列
列 Sound component
liè arrange

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartljet[r]atto cut, split
Zhengzhangred
Unicodeliɛt

說文解字

繒餘也。从衣𠛱聲。

Sources

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

开 kāi open Simplified

Simplified form of 開. Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門). The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

Components

開
門 Deleted component
mén, men door

The traditional component 門 was removed for simplification.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Component uses

Sound (0 of 5 verified)

邢趼锎岍汧

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

荆妍

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants
Unicode

開 kāi open Traditional

Pictograph of two hands (廾) opening the bolt (一) on a door (門).

Components

門
門 Iconic component
mén, men door
◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a bolt on a door.

廾
廾 Iconic component
gǒng two hands

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkhojNə-[k]ʰˤəj to open (v.i.)
khoj[k]ʰˤəj to open (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“開，張也。从門，从幵。，古文開。”

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.836
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)