触手可及 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

chùshǒukějí

reachable

chù knock against, touch, to butt with the horns Simplified

Simplified form of 觸. Phonosemantic compound. 角 represents the meaning and 蜀 represents the sound.

Components

角 Meaning component

jiǎo, jué horn

虫 Simplified component

chóng bug, insect

Shorthand for the phonetic 蜀 component in the traditional character 觸.

Sources

Character origin: 漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants: Unicode

shǒu, shou hand

Pictograph of a hand.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Meaning (8 of 23 verified)

举拿掌摩拳攀摹挚擎挛掣掰挈挲搿擘搴舉掱擊攣拏摯 show all 23 show fewer

Iconic (2)

Deleted (1)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	syuwX	n̥uʔ	hand

說文解字

《說文》：“手，拳也。象形。，古文手。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.844
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

kě able to

Original meaning: sing

Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and a pictograph of an axe handle (丂) which is now written as 柯 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "sing", now written as 歌. The current meaning "able to" is a phonetic loan.

Components

口 Meaning component

kǒu, kou mouth

Change in meaning

口 hints at the original meaning of 可, "sing", which is no longer the most common meaning of 可 in modern Mandarin.

丂 Sound Iconic component

kǎo, qiǎo, yú axe handle

Depicts an axe handle.

Change in sound

可 and 丂 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
可 khaX
丂 khawX

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Spring and Autumn ~600 BC

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 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

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (6 of 20 verified)

何阿奇河哥呵柯苛珂诃轲坷舸岢疴哿蚵钶軻訶

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khaX	[k]ʰˤa[j]ʔ	may; acceptable

說文解字

《說文》：“可，肎也。从口、丂，丂亦聲。”

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)

jí extend

Pictograph of a hand (又) reaching to grab a person (人).

Components

人 Iconic component

rén, ren person

又 Iconic component

yòu hand

Character Evolution

Oracle form — Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

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

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Component uses

Sound (5 of 10 verified)

极级吸圾汲笈岌芨趿級

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	gip	[m-k-]rəp	reach to

說文解字

逮也。从又从人。

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)

chù knock against, touch, to butt with the horns Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 角 represents the meaning and 蜀 represents the sound.

Components

角 Meaning component

jiǎo, jué horn

蜀 Sound component

shǔ short name for Sichuan

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsyhowk	tʰok	knock against

說文解字

《說文》：“觸，抵也。从角，蜀聲。”

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)