猜 Origin — Chinese Character Wiki

cāi HSK5

guess

Original meaning: viciously resent

Phonosemantic compound. 犭 represents the meaning and 青 represents the sound. Meanings derived from resentful suspicion.

Components

犭 Meaning component

quǎn dog

犭(dog, animal) signifies animalistic sentiment.

Change in meaning

犭 hints at the original meaning of 猜, "viciously resent", which is no longer the most common meaning of 猜 in modern Mandarin.

青 Sound component

qīng green or blue

Change in sound

猜 and 青 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in Middle Chinese.
猜 t͡sʰʌi
青 tsheng

Regular Modern

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《說文》：“猜，恨賊也。从犬，青聲。”