反酷刑折磨公约 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

fǎn reverse

Original meaning: climb

Pictograph of a hand (又) climbing a cliff (厂). Based on original meaning "climb", now written as 扳. The meaning later shifted to "pull" and "reverse".

Components

厂 Iconic component

chǎng cliff, (roof)

又 Iconic component

yòu hand

Depicts a hand.

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC

Seal form — Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (4 of 13 verified)

版板饭返贩扳阪坂畈舨钣飯販

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

返叛

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	baenX	[b]ˤranʔ	dignified, grand
	pjonX	Cə.panʔ	reverse (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“反，覆也。从又、厂。反形。，古文。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.206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)

kù strong (wine), cool

Phonosemantic compound. 酉 represents the meaning and 告 represents the sound.

Components

酉 Meaning component

yǒu wine

告 Sound component

gào tell

Change in sound

酷 and 告 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
酷 *kʰˤuk
告 *kˤuk

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	khowk	kʰˤuk	cruel

說文解字

《說文》：“酷，酒厚味也。从酉，告聲。”

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)

xíng punishment

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

Components

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 Meaning component

dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

型硎

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	heng	[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)

zhé, zhē, shé break off

Depicts a hand (扌) using an axe (斤) to chop something. Older forms of this character depicted an axe chopping a tree into two pieces.

Components

扌 Iconic component

shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

斤 Iconic component

jīn axe

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

哲誓逝浙蜇踅哳

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	dejH	[d]ˤet-s	solitary standing (sc. tree)
	dzyet	N-tet	bend (v.i.)
	tsyet	tet	bend; break (v.t.)

說文解字

《說文》：“折，斷也。从斤斷艸，譚長說。，籀文折，从艸在仌中，仌寒，故折。𣂚，篆文折，从手。”

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)

mó, mo, mò grind

Phonosemantic compound. 石 represents the meaning and 麻 represents the sound.

Components

石 Meaning component

shí stone

麻 Sound component

má, ma hemp

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

蘑耱

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	ma	mˤaj	rub, grind
	maH	mˤaj-s	grinding stone
Zhengzhang		maːl
		maːls
Unicode	mɑ

Sources

Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images: Academia Sinica

gōng public

Original meaning: earthen jar

Pictograph of a earthen jar for holding liquid, now written as 瓮. The current meaning "public" is a phonetic loan.

Components

八 Iconic component

bā eight

Depicts handles of a jar.

口 Iconic component

kǒu, kou mouth

Depicts the opening of a jar.

Change in form

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

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (5 of 14 verified)

容松讼翁颂瓮蚣衮忪袞頌訟鈆彸

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kuwng	C.qˤoŋ	impartial, just; public
	kuwng	C.qˤoŋ	father; prince

說文解字

《說文》：“公，平分也。从八、从厶。八，猶背也。韓非曰：‘背厶為公’。”

Sources

Character origin: 季旭昇《說文新證》p.86-87
Readings & variants: Unicode
Historical pronunciations: Baxter-Sagart
Historical images: Academia Sinica
Etymology: Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

yuē agreement Simplified

Original meaning: bind

Simplified form of 約. Phonosemantic compound. 纟 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".

Components

纟 Meaning component

mì silk

纟 is a component form of 糸.

勺 Sound component

sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon

Change in sound

约 and 勺 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
约 *[q](r)ewk
勺 *m-tewk

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

药哟

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

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

yuē agreement Traditional

Original meaning: bind

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "bind". The meaning later shifted to "agreement", "restrain", "keep under control", "appointment", and "approximately".

Components

糹 Meaning component

mì silk

糹 is a component form of 糸.

勺 Sound component

sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon

Change in sound

約 and 勺 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
約 *[q](r)ewk
勺 *m-tewk

Character Evolution

Regular Modern

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Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

葯喲

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	'jiewH	[q]ewk-s	bond, agreement (n.)
	'jak	[q](r)ewk	bind (v.), make an agreement

說文解字

《說文》：“約，纏束也。从糸，勺聲。”

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)

反 fǎn reverse

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (4 of 13 verified)

Meaning (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

酷 kù strong (wine), cool

Components

Character Evolution

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

刑 xíng punishment

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

折 zhé, zhē, shé break off

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (2 of 7 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

磨 mó, mo, mò grind

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (0 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

公 gōng public

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (5 of 14 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

约 yuē agreement Simplified

Components

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

約 yuē agreement Traditional

Components

Character Evolution

Component uses

Sound (1 of 2 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

說文解字

Sources

fǎn reverse

kù strong (wine), cool

xíng punishment

zhé, zhē, shé break off

mó, mo, mò grind

gōng public

yuē agreement Simplified

yuē agreement Traditional