责令
zé​lìng

order

责 zé responsibility Simplified

Original meaning: taxation

Simplified form of 責. Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "taxation". The meaning later shifted to "responsibility".

Components

朿
朿 Sound component
cì thorn, stab
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 朿 than it was in ancient scripts.
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
貝 hints at the original meaning of 责, "taxation", which is no longer the most common meaning of 责 in modern Mandarin.

Component uses

Sound (1 of 8 verified)

债绩啧渍碛赜帻箦

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

债

Sources

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

令 lìng command

Depicts a person (卩) receiving commands from a mouth (口) above them.

Components

口
口 Iconic component
kǒu, kou mouth
卩
卩 Iconic component
jié person kneeling

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Warring States ~400 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Eastern Han 25-220 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (10 of 28 verified)

命领冷零龄怜邻玲铃岭伶拎翎聆羚苓蛉呤囹泠瓴鸰領齡舲柃鈴鴒

Meaning (1)

命

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartleng[r]ˤiŋ 脊令 tsjek.leng (a kind of water bird)
ljengriŋ send (a person)
ljengHriŋ-s issue a command

說文解字

《說文》：“令，發號也。从亼、卪。”

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)

責 zé responsibility Traditional

Original meaning: taxation

Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "taxation". The meaning later shifted to "responsibility".

Components

朿
朿 Sound component
cì thorn, stab
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 朿 than it was in ancient scripts.
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
貝 hints at the original meaning of 責, "taxation", which is no longer the most common meaning of 責 in modern Mandarin.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Shang ~1100 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Qin 221-206 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (3 of 6 verified)

積蹟績嘖債漬

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

債

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsreaks-tˤrek demand payment
tsreaks-tˤrek blame
tsreaHs-tˤrek-s debt

說文解字

《說文》：“責，求也。从貝，朿聲。”

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)