调查局 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

diàochájú

investigation agency

diào, tiáo adjust, tune Simplified

Simplified form of 調. Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 周 represents the sound.

Components

讠 Meaning component

yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

周 Sound component

zhōu cycle

Change in sound

调 and 周 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
调 *[d]ˤiw
周 *tiw

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

chá investigate

Original meaning: hawthorn tree

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 且 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "hawthorn tree", now written as 柤. The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

木 Meaning component

mù tree

且 Sound component

qiě moreover

Change in form

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 且 than it was in ancient scripts.

Component uses

Sound (0 of 8 verified)

渣喳碴楂馇揸猹齄

Historical Pronunciations

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	ʔsraː
	zraː
	zraː

Sources

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

jú bureau

Original meaning: bent, curved

Phonosemantic compound. 尸 represents the meaning and 句 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bent, curved". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

尸 Meaning component

shī sitting person

Depicts a person bending over.

Change in meaning

尸 hints at the original meaning of 局, "bent, curved", which is no longer the most common meaning of 局 in modern Mandarin.

句 Sound component

jù sentence

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

锔焗侷鋦

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	gjowk	N-kʰ(r)ok	bent, curved
	gjowk	[g](r)ok	department

說文解字

《說文》：“局，促也。从口在尺下，復局之。一曰博所以行棊。象形。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.101
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

diào, tiáo adjust, tune Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 言 represents the meaning and 周 represents the sound.

Components

言 Meaning component

yán speech

周 Sound component

zhōu cycle

Change in sound

調 and 周 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
調 *[d]ˤiw
周 *tiw

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dew	[d]ˤiw	tune (v.), adjust

說文解字

《說文》：“調，和也。从言，周聲。”

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)

调 diào, tiáo adjust, tune Simplified

Components

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

查 chá investigate

Components

Component uses

Sound (0 of 8 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

局 jú bureau

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

調 diào, tiáo adjust, tune Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

diào, tiáo adjust, tune Simplified

chá investigate

jú bureau

diào, tiáo adjust, tune Traditional