挟持
xié​chí HSK7

coerce

挟 xié clasp under arm Simplified

Wedged 夹 in one's arms 扌; 夹 also provides the pronunciation

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand
夹
夹 SoundMeaning component
jiā, jiá be wedged or inserted between, pressed from two sides

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

持 chí sustain

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 寺 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

寺
寺 Sound component
sì, shì temple

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdri[d]rə grasp, hold

說文解字

《說文》：“持，握也。从手，寺聲。”

Sources

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

挾 xié clasp under arm Traditional

Wedged 夾 in one's arms 扌; 夾 also provides the pronunciation

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand
夾
夾 SoundMeaning component
jiā, jiá be wedged or inserted between, pressed from two sides

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
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarthepm-kˤep (?)grasp
tsepS-kˤepgrasp
Zhengzhangskaːb
ɡeːb

說文解字

俾持也。从手夾聲。

Sources

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