插座
chā​zuò

socket

插 chā insert

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

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

臿
臿 SoundMeaning component
chā to separate the grain from the husk

Depicts using a pestle (午) to grind grain to be separated from its husk in a mortar (臼).

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttsrheapmə-[tsʰ]<r>op insert

說文解字

《說文》：“插，刺肉也。从手，从臿。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫Wenlin Dictionaries
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

座 zuò seat

Phonosemantic compound. 广 represents the meaning and 坐 represents the sound.

Components

广
广 Meaning component
guǎng roof
坐
坐 SoundMeaning component
zuò sit

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Spring and Autumn 771-476 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdzwaH[dz]ˤo[j]ʔ-s seat n.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica