刑事警察局
Xíng​shì Jǐng​chá​jú

Criminal Investigation Bureau

刑 xíng punishment

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 井 represents the sound.

Components

井
井 Sound component
jǐng well

Modern form looks like 开.

Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 井 than it was in ancient scripts.
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

型硎

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartheng[ɢ]ˤeŋ punish(ment)
heng[ɢ]ˤeŋ model, form

說文解字

《說文》：“，剄也。仌刀，幵聲。”

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)

事 shì, shi matter

The characters 史 (history), 吏 (government official), 使 (cause; use; instruct), and 事 (matter; work; affair) are all etymologically related and all derive from the same ancient character, depicting a hand (又) holding a container for writing utensils. 事 and 史 were originally written the same, but later an extra mark was added to distinguish them.

Components

◎
◎ Distinguishing component
characterless component

Mark added to distinguish 事 from 史.

◎
◎ Iconic component
characterless component

Depicts a container for writing utensils.

又
又 Iconic component
yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 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 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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzriH[m-s-]rəʔ-s serve; service, affair

說文解字

《說文》：“事，職也。从史，之省聲。，古文事。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫季旭昇《說文新證》p.214
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

警 jǐng warn

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

Components

敬
敬 Sound component
jìng respect
言
言 Meaning component
yán speech

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartkjaengXkreŋʔ warn, admonish

說文解字

戒也。从言从敬，敬亦聲。

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)

察 chá examine

Original meaning: eaves

Phonosemantic compound. 宀 represents the meaning and 祭 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "eaves". The meaning later shifted to "observe from above", "examine", and "inspect".

Components

宀
宀 Meaning component
mián roof
Change in meaning
宀 hints at the original meaning of 察, "eaves", which is no longer the most common meaning of 察 in modern Mandarin.
祭
祭 Sound component
jì, zhài sacrifice to
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 5 verified)

擦嚓檫镲鑔

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsrheat[tsʰ]ˤret examine

說文解字

《說文》：“察，覆也。从宀、祭。”

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)

局 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
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
句 Sound component
jù sentence

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1 of 4 verified)

锔焗侷鋦

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartgjowkN-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)