裁判所
cái​pàn​suǒ

law court

裁 cái cut out

To cut 戈 cloth 衣

Components

𢦏
𢦏 SoundMeaning component
zāi to cut
衣
衣 Meaning component
yī clothes

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzoj[dz]ˤə cut out clothes

說文解字

《說文》：“裁，制衣也。从衣，聲。”

Sources

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

判 pàn judge

Original meaning: cut open

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

Components

半
半 Sound component
bàn half
刂
刂 Meaning component
dāo knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartphanHpʰˤan-s divide

說文解字

《說文》：“判，分也。从刀，半聲。”

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)

所 suǒ place

Origin unclear. 戶 represents the sound.

Components

戶
戶 Sound component
hù, hu door
Change in sound
斤
斤 Meaning component
jīn axe

The original purpose of this component is unclear.

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Spring and Autumn ~500 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartsrjoXs-qʰ<r>aʔ place (n.); that which
xuXqʰaʔ 所所 = 許許 = 滸滸 sound of hewing wood

說文解字

《說文》：“所，伐木聲也。从斤，戶聲。”

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)