概测法 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

Chinese Character Wiki Wiki

gàicèfǎ

rule of thumb

gài approximately

Original meaning: rod used to level off a heaped measure

Phonosemantic compound. 木 represents the meaning and 既 represents the sound.

Components

木 Meaning component

mù tree

Change in meaning

木 hints at the original meaning of 概, "rod used to level off a heaped measure", which is no longer the most common meaning of 概 in modern Mandarin.

既 Sound component

jì already

Change in sound

概 and 既 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
概 *[k]ˤə[t]-s
既 *[k]ə[t]-s

Character Evolution

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD

Regular Modern

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	kojH	[k]ˤə[t]-s	to strickle

說文解字

《說文》：“，斗斛。从木，既聲。邵瑛羣經正字：“今經典多作概。”

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)

cè measure Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 则 represents the sound. Simplified form of 測.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

则 Sound component

zé rule

Sources

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

fǎ, fa law

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 去 represents the sound. Originally written as 灋.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

Likely alludes to water always flowing in a given path, or water always being flat and level.

去 Sound component

qù go away

Change in sound

法 and 去 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Old Chinese.
法 *[p.k]ap
去 *[kʰ](r)aʔ

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Mid Western Zhou ~900 BC

Bronze form — Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 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 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 Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC

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

Seal form — Seal Qin 221-206 BC

Seal form — Seal Qin 221-206 BC

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

Seal form — Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD

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

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Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	pjop	[p.k]ap	model, law

說文解字

《說文》：“灋，刑也。平之如水，从水；廌，所以觸不直者，去之，从去。法，今文省。佱，古文。”

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)

cè measure Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 則 represents the sound.

Components

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

則 Sound component

zé rule

Character Evolution

Bronze form — Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC

Seal form — Seal Shuowen ~100 AD

Clerical form — Clerical Three Kingdoms (Cao Wei) 222-280 AD

Regular Modern

▼ More ▲ Less

Historical Pronunciations

	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	tsrhik	[tsʰ]rək	fathom (v.)

說文解字

《說文》：“測，深所至也。从水，則聲。”

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)