除净
chú​jìng

eliminate

除 chú eliminate

Original meaning: stair steps

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "stair steps". The meaning later shifted to "divide", "remove", and "except".

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

Change in meaning
阝 hints at the original meaning of 除, "stair steps", which is no longer the most common meaning of 除 in modern Mandarin.
余
余 Sound component
yú I
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

滁

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjo[l]<r>a remove; get rid of
drjoHlra-s pass away

說文解字

殿陛也。从𨸏余聲。

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)

净 jìng clean Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 冫 represents the meaning and 争 represents the sound. Simplified form of 淨.

Components

冫
冫 Meaning component
bīng ice

Used here as a shorthand form of 氵 (water).

争
争 Sound component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Sources

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

淨 jìng clean Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 爭 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

爭
爭 Sound component
zhēng strife, quarrel

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Jin 266-420 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzjengHN-tseŋ-s clean (adj.)
dzjengHm-tseŋ-s cleanse (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“淨，魯北城門池也。从水，爭聲。”

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)