劫狱
jié​yù

break into prison

劫 jié take by force

Phonosemantic compound. 力 represents the meaning and 去 represents the sound. Simplified form of 刦.

Components

力
力 Meaning component
lì, li power
去
去 Sound component
qù go away

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkjæpk(r)aprob
Zhengzhangkab
kab
Unicodekiæp

說文解字

人欲去，以力脅止曰劫。或曰以力止去曰劫。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

狱 yù prison Simplified

Simplified form of 獄. Picture of two fighting dogs (犭, 犬) facing each other and barking (讠), depicting a legal dispute related to a crime.

Components

犭
犭 Iconic component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

讠
讠 Meaning component
yán speech

讠 is a component form of 言.

犬
犬 Iconic component
quǎn dog

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫李学勤《字源》p.884
Readings & variants
Unicode

獄 yù prison Traditional

Picture of two fighting dogs (犭, 犬) facing each other and barking (言), depicting a legal dispute related to a crime.

Components

犭
犭 Iconic component
quǎn dog

犭 is a component form of 犬.

言
言 Meaning component
yán speech
犬
犬 Iconic component
quǎn dog

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 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 Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

嶽

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartngjowk[ŋ]rok lawsuit; prison

說文解字

《說文》：“獄，确也。从，从言。二犬，所以守也。”

Sources

Character origin
李学勤《字源》p.884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)