责
zé HSK3

responsibility

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approved by Peter Olson · Sep 27, 2021, 01:47 AM · Reviewed by Peter Olson on Sep 27, 2021, 01:47 AM

gloss

Changed fields: gloss

Original meaning: taxation

Simplified form of 責. Phonosemantic compound. 貝 represents the meaning and 朿 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "taxation". The meaning later shifted to "responsibility".

Components

朿
朿 Sound component
cì thorn, stab
Change in form
Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 朿 than it was in ancient scripts.
貝
貝 Meaning component
bèi sea shell

In ancient China shells were used as currency.

Change in meaning
貝 hints at the original meaning of 责, "taxation", which is no longer the most common meaning of 责 in modern Mandarin.

Sources

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