Abstract
This study analyzed 10 pairs of characters (a total of 20 characters) from the Shuowen Jiezi constructed with the same radicals. The analysis demonstrated that even when characters were composed of the same radicals, variations in their structural composition resulted in significantly different meanings. This discrepancy arose from whether the radical played the semantic role or phonetic role in character formation. The analysis showed clearly that among characters with the same radical structure, there were instances where extended semantic relationships could be inferred. Chinese characters, being predominantly ideographic, often have multiple meanings, and some meanings may evolve to lead to the development of new characters, enhancing semantic differentiation. It could be argued that this process gave rise to new characters through simple adjustments in the positions of the same radicals.
Introduction
Chinese characters, which make up one of the oldest scripts in the world, have been in use for thousands of years, yet often hold meanings that can still be discerned at a glance. For instance, 木 depicts a tree’s trunk and branches, signifying “tree,” while 山 depicts the peaks and valleys of a “mountain.” However, a closer examination of the formation and evolution of Chinese characters reveals a constant transformation. Many characters have been created, vanished, branched out, and merged, and many have undergone graphical evolution: changes in character forms occurred in stages such as oracle bone script (甲骨文), bronze inscriptions (金文), seal script (篆文), and clerical script (隸書), and the differences in the forms of Chinese characters from oracle bone script to regular script (楷書) are easily noted. As the changes in the stroke structures of most characters were gradual over an extended period, it is relatively feasible to trace them back to their original appearance with a little attention.
One of the methodologies in graphonomy, “radical analysis,” involves analyzing the forms of radicals within characters. It is regarded as one of the most fundamental and accurate ways to interpret characters (Kim, 2016: 30–31).
However, despite the significance of radicals, it is challenging to ascertain the meanings of some characters based solely on their forms. This study aims to delve into such cases, which raise such questions as “Why did they change only the position of the radical to create another character with a different meaning?” and “How closely related are the positions of radicals and the meanings of characters?” These puzzles constitute the starting point of this study.
Though some characters may from today’s perspective seem unrelated, when characters were being created, the two characters in such pairs may have had clearly related meanings. Thus, it is likely that they were created using the same radical for a reason. The positional arrangement of a radical is a crucial aspect as well. During the unification and organization of characters by Li Si (李斯) and others under the rule of Qin Shi Huang, radical positions were standardized. Therefore, creating new characters with different meanings by merely altering the position of a radical within the same character signifies that there was a definite reason behind such changes. Examining such occurrences from the perspective of semantic extension may reveal hidden semantic relationships between two characters.
This study aimed to explore possible semantic extension relationships between two characters by analyzing characters whose meaning changes with the position of the radical. The study targeted 20 characters (10 pairs) found in the Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字) that share the same radicals in different positions. The reason for choosing characters from the Shuowen Jiezi is due to the prevalence of modern characters differing only in the position of radicals, owing to the current Chinese character simplification policy. Analyzing characters belonging to the archaic script that retains features from the time of character creation enabled a more practical understanding of the actual semantic relationships between the two characters. To complement the interpretations from the Shuowen Jiezi, references were additionally made to Yucai Duan’s (1993) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注) and the Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary (漢語大字典) (Chinese Dictionary Editorial Committee, 1996).
Positions and functions of radicals
Chinese characters can be classified based on their structure into independent characters (獨體字) and compound characters (合體字). Independent characters are those that cannot be further divided and form an independent character. Conversely, compound characters are formed by combining two or more independent characters. Phono-semantic compound characters, derivative cognates, most compound ideographic characters, and some pictographic characters belong to this group. With the increase in the number of characters, compound characters came to predominate.
Traditionally, the structural unit on the left side of a compound character was called pian (偏), and that on the right was called pang (旁). However, regardless of their position, the independent structural units that form the compound characters are now referred to as radicals (偏旁).
The radical is also a fundamental element representing a character’s sound and meaning. In ancient characters, radical positions were arbitrary, with forms in the normal and reverse positions considered identical and without a distinction between left-right and top-bottom arrangements. However, after Emperor Qin Shi Huang unified and standardized the characters, the radical positions became fixed. Jia Gongyan (賈公彦) during the Tang Dynasty was the first to propose that compound characters be constructed from components in top-bottom, left-right, and inside-outside positions. The most general tendency in the structural form of Chinese characters, whether left-right, top-bottom, or inside-outside, is the pursuit of a square shape. In other words, radicals are placed to fulfill both the aesthetic and practical aspects of character structure (Sohn, 2003: 314–318).
Generally, when using the same radical position, whether in a left-right or top-bottom structure, the position remains constant. In cases like 水 “water,” however, the position might change flexibly depending on the shape of the rest of the character.
In these cases, questions arise regarding which radical should be positioned at the top or the bottom in a top-bottom structure, or left or right in a left-right structure. In a top-bottom structure, when two radicals are combined, and one has itself a left-right structure, as in 塗, 塑, and 娶, it is common to position the left-right structure above and the independent radical below, forming an “enriched top, reduced bottom arrangement” (上豐下削型). Similarly, in a left-right structure, if one radical has a directional aspect, it must face the other radical to ensure seamless integration. However, psychological elements play a significant role in this (Sohn, 2003: 320–321).
From the perspective of “pursuing practicality,” radicals distinguish and emphasize a character’s meaning. For example, while 忡 “to surge” and 忠 “wholehearted” are both constructed from 中 and 心, their meanings differ drastically, which is indicated by the different radical positions.
Understanding radical positions aids in recognizing character variation, semantic extension, and variant forms, helping us distinguish phono-semantic compound characters and compound ideographic characters.
Variant characters due to different radical positions
Variant characters refer to characters with identical meaning (字意) and pronunciation (字音) but differing in their structure (字形). These variant characters typically arise through four main processes. First, they can arise due to changes in character construction methods (e.g., 淚-泪). Second, different radicals may lead to variant characters (e.g., 跡-迹). Third, variant characters might emerge due to different phonetic components (e.g., 煙-烟). Fourth, variant characters can result from differences in radical positions (e.g., 脅-脇; Sohn, 2003).
Variant characters are generally more common in compound characters than independent characters because the probability of variant characters arising during the combination of a phonetic component and a semantic component or a semantic component and another semantic component in compound characters is higher than in independent characters. Similar to phono-semantic compound characters, compound ideographic characters belong to compound formations. However, as variant characters involve only semantic components, their structure was commonly fixed according to their meanings. For instance, the character 看 comprises 手 “hand” above 目 “eye,” depicting the act of looking. If the hand was positioned below the eye, interpreting its meaning would become challenging. Thus, in such cases, the fixed positions of the two compound components are essential.
In contrast, phono-semantic compound characters might differ slightly. Combinations of phonetic and semantic components might not always maintain fixed positions. If the phonetic component is closely related to the meaning of the character and its position changes within the structural form, it could change the character’s meaning, and indeed, there is greater flexibility in position variations than for compound ideographic characters. Consequently, variant characters resulting from radical position changes include 槀/槁 and 朞/期. Other instances where structural changes have led to variant characters include 群 and 羣, 裙 and 
, and 翅 and 
(Sohn, 2003).
These variant characters differ only in structure, unlike characters whose meanings change with positional variance despite having the same radicals, which are examined in this study.
Analysis of Chinese characters with the same radicals
In this section, we examine 10 pairs of Chinese characters from the Shuowen Jiezi that have the same radicals in different positions, totaling 20 characters. We consulted the Annotated Shuowen Jiezi and the Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary for a more detailed interpretation of these characters’ meanings.
First, we examine characters with 心 “heart/mind” as a radical. As 心 is a pictographic character representing the shape of the heart, Chinese characters with 心 as a radical generally relate to psychological activities.
When 心 is used as a radical, it can appear in one of three forms depending on its position within the character. The first form appears at the bottom, middle, or right with other radicals, as in 忍 “endure,” 愛 “love,” and 恥 “shame.” The second form appears on the left side of characters, like in 性 “nature” and 快 “quick.” The third form appears at the bottom, creating a protrusion or an extension downwards, seen in characters like 恭 “respect” and 慕 “admiration” (Kim, 1996: 106–108).
We examine the following pairs of Chinese characters that share the radical 心 but have different radical positions.
(1) 怡 and 怠 怡, 和也, 從心台聲. (Harmony. Meaning 心 and reading 台.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 調也. 玉篇曰, 怡者, 悅也. 樂也. 鄭注云, 敬和. (Adjustment. According to the “Yupian” (玉篇), 怡 signifies delight and happiness. Zheng Xuan’s commentary interprets it as reverence and harmony.) 怠, 慢也, 從心台聲. (Slowness, Meaning 心 and reading 台) Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary: 怠, 通怡. 安樂. (怠 is interchangeable with 怡. Comfort and pleasure.)
Although both 怡 and 怠 are phono-semantic compound characters, 怡 means “harmony and happiness,” while 怠 means “slowness.” According to Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary, regarding “此百姓之怠生, 百振而食, 非獨自爲也” in Guanzi: Chi Mi, Guo Moruo argued that in ancient times, 怠 and 怡 were originally a single character. He suggested that 怠生 should be read 怡生, indicating dwelling comfortably and joyfully in work (“怠與怡古本一字. 此‘怠生’當讀爲‘怡生’, 謂安居樂業也”). This suggests that 怠 and 怡 share certain semantic similarities. It is likely that these two characters, originally representing the same meaning, diverged over time: 怡 evolved to signify peace and stability, while 怠 predominantly conveys a sense of leisure. The differentiation in meaning led to the creation of distinct characters with different structures, separating the original shared form.
(2) 㥥 and 愚 㥥, 懽也, 琅邪朱虛有㥥亭, 從心禺聲. (Happiness from the heart. In the region of Nan’ya Zhu Xu, there exists a place called 㥥亭. Meaning 心 and reading 禺.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 此與愚各字. 猶慕與慔各字也. 琅邪朱虛見地理志. 故城在今山東靑州府臨胊縣東六十里. 按漢時縣道國邑千五百八十七. 鄕六千六百二十二. 亭二萬九千六百三十五. 其名皆著於籍. 故許氏得偁鄕亭之名. (This character is distinct from 愚, akin to the difference between 慕 and 慔. Geographical records mention Nan’ya Zhu Xu, located approximately 30km east of Linkou County in Shandong Province’s Qingzhou Prefecture. During the Han Dynasty, there were 1587 towns, 6622 villages, and 29,635 pavilions. All these names were documented, and the name Xu Shen was derived from the name of a pavilion.) 愚, 戇也, 從心從禺, 禺猴屬獸之愚者. (Foolishness. Meaning 心 and 禺. 禺猴 “leaf monkeys” are among foolish animals.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 愚者, 智之反也. 會意. 愚亦聲. 母字舊奪. 今補. 沐猴, 彌猴一語之轉. 而甶部禺下曰母猴屬. 從禺之意. (愚 represents the opposite of wisdom. The character is a compound ideographic character and a back formation. The old character did not have 母, but this has been supplemented today. The term 沐猴 was transformed from 彌猴, and it was noted that it belongs to the category of 母猴 under 禺 of the radical 甶, following the meaning of 禺.)
In terms of semantic association, 㥥 took its meaning from an administrative unit during the Han Dynasty, while 愚 took its meaning from a type of monkey represented by 禺. In formation, 㥥 follows the phono-semantic compound method, while 愚 utilizes the method of ideography. As mentioned earlier, as a phono-semantic compound character consists of phonetic and semantic components, their positions within characters can be variable. In this case, however, one is a phono-semantic compound character while the other is a compound ideographic character, suggesting that their formation did not rely on the free combination of semantic and phonetic elements. Although both characters incorporate the 心 radical as their semantic element, representing human emotions, their process of formation seems entirely unrelated: Both characters share the same radical, not because they are semantically related, but rather because 㥥 and 愚 both adopted the 禺 element in their phonetic and semantic positions, respectively. Despite sharing the same radical, the differences in their structural positioning stem from the need to distinguish each character from existing characters based on the order of composition.
(3) 悱 and 悲 悱, 口悱悱也, 從心非聲. (Inability to express through words. Meaning 心 and reading 非.) 悲, 痛也, 從心非聲. (Emotional pain. Meaning 心 and reading 非.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 按憯者, 痛之深者也. 恫者, 痛之專者也. 悲者, 痛之上騰者也. 各從其聲而得之. (憯 represents emotional pain. 恫 signifies an intense form of pain. 悲 is considered an even deeper pain.) Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary: 悲, 眷念;悵望. (悲, longing; sorrowful gazes.) Part 2, Annals of Emperor Gaozu (高祖紀下), Book of Han (漢書): 游子悲故鄕. (A wandering son longs for his hometown.)
Both 悱 and 悲 are phono-semantic compound characters. While 悲 means emotional pain or longing, 悱 signifies an inability to express emotions verbally. There is a connection between them in the sense that both denote emotions that cannot be verbally expressed, which might have led to an extension of meaning rather than the two emerging from a distinct origin. The relatedness in meaning between these characters could suggest why they share the same radicals.
(4) 忡 and 忠 忡, 憂也, 從心中聲. 詩曰憂心忡忡. (Worry. Meaning 心 and reading 中. In the Book of Poetry (詩經), it is mentioned as deeply worrying.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 釋訓曰, 忡忡, 憂也. 毛傳曰, 忡忡猶衝衝也. (“Explaining Instruction” (釋訓) states that 忡忡 signified worry. The “Mao Commentary” (毛傳) notes it as akin to the feeling of collision or crashing (衝衝).) 忠, 敬也, 從心中聲. (Loyalty or devotion. Meaning 心 and reading 中.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 敬者, 肅也. 未有盡心而不敬者. 此與愼訓謹同義. (敬 means reverence or solemnity. One who does not devote their whole heart is not truly reverent. This is synonymous with 愼, interpreted as reverence.) Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary (漢語大字典): 忠, 盡心竭力, 忠誠無私. (忠. Devoting both heart and effort. Being loyal and selfless.)
Both 忡 and 忠 are phono-semantic compound characters, but they hold different meanings. 忡 denotes worry or anxiety, while 忠 signifies devotion or reverence. The extension of meaning from devotion to expressing worry about not being sufficiently devoted suggests a shift in the original concept of wholehearted dedication to the distress of not achieving such dedication.
(5) 㤨 and 恭 㤨, 戰慄也, 從心共聲. (Trembling due to fear. Meaning 心 and reading 共.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 栗舊作慄. 今正. 大學曰, 恂栗也. 戰國策曰, 戰戰栗栗也. 一愼一日. 方言, 蛩㤨, 戰慄也. 此與上共下心之恭字義別. (栗 used to be written as 慄, but it is corrected now. In the Great Learning (大學), it is mentioned as being cautious and fearful. In the Strategies of the Warring States (戰國策), it described trembling in fear, suggesting caution once a day. Dialectally, 蛩㤨 is described as trembling out of fear. This meaning differs from the character 恭, which has 共 on top and 心 below.) 恭, 肅也, 從心共聲. (Solemnity. Meaning 心 and reading 共.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 肅者, 持事振敬也. 尙書曰, 恭作肅. 此以肅釋恭者, 析言則分別. 訓言則互明也. (肅 implies conducting oneself with respect while handling matters. In the Book of Documents (尙書), 恭 is written as 肅, defining 恭 through 肅. They are different in wording but clarify each other’s meaning.) Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary (漢語大字典): 恭, 事奉;奉行.(恭. Serving or performing duties.) Yupian under radical 心 (玉篇․心部): “恭, 事也.(恭. Serving.)”
Although both 㤨 and 恭 are phono-semantic compound characters, as noted in Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注), their meanings differ. 㤨 represents fear, while 恭 signifies solemnity or respectfulness. Respectful behavior may encompass situations that induce fear, but the fact that Annotated Shuowen Jiezi mentions the difference in meaning suggests that 恭 was created before 㤨. Therefore, the extension of the meaning of trembling due to fear seen in 㤨 might have derived from the concept of solemnity or respectfulness in 恭.
(6) 怓 and 怒 怓, 亂也, 從心奴聲. 詩曰以謹怋怓. (Disorderliness or confusion. Meaning 心 and reading 奴. In the Book of Poetry (詩經), it is mentioned in a phrase meaning avoiding disorderliness.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 大雅民勞, 毛傳曰, 惽怓, 大亂也. 惽當作怋. 民勞釋文曰. 惽說文作怋. 舊本如是. 怋怓爲連綿字. 說文古本當是怋篆下云怋怓, 亂也. 怓篆下云怋怓也. (“惽怓” is interpreted as works of the people in “Da ya” (大雅), and as great disorderliness in the “Mao Commentary.” However, 惽 should be written as 怋. Works of the people were mentioned in Shiwen (釋文). 怋 was written as 怋 in the Shuowen Jiezi. These were used in older editions like the above. 怋怓 is a disyllabic morpheme. The ancient edition of the Shuowen Jiezi notes 怋怓 interpreted as disorderly, under 怋, and as 怋怓 under 怓.) 怒, 恚也, 從心奴聲. (Anger or wrath. Meaning 心 and reading 奴.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 古無勞字. 衹用怒. (In ancient times, there was no character 勞, and only 怒 was used.) Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary (漢語大字典): 怒, 生氣, 氣勢很盛.(怒. Becoming angry, having an intense and forceful disposition.)
While both 怓 and 怒 are phono-semantic compound characters with the same radicals, their meanings differ. 怓 signifies disorderliness or being tumultuous, while 怒 represents the idea of 努. However, according to Zheng Xuan (鄭玄), 能怓 means someone who enjoys arguing or causing a commotion (鄭玄箋: “惽怓, 猶讙譁也, 謂好爭者也.”). In this sense, there is a commonality in meaning between 怓, signifying a fondness for conflict, and 怒, representing intense anger or a forceful disposition.
Next, we examine characters with 木 as the radical component. Generally, characters incorporating 木 as a radical are related to various types of trees, parts of trees, or items made from wood. Examining characters with 木 as a radical while considering differences in their side components yields the following examples.
(7) 梓 and 梓, 楸也, 從木宰省聲, 榟或不省. (Walnut tree. Meaning 木 and reading 宰, which is a simplified form of 榟.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 按許知宰省聲而非辛聲者, 於或字知之也. 或字, 蓋古文之遺與. (Xu Shen was likely to understand that the phonetic element was 宰 instead of 辛 through the original form, which remains in ancient scripts.) Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary: “梓, 木名. 紫葳科, 落葉喬木. 嫩葉可食, 木材輕軟耐朽, 可供建築及家具, 樂器等用. 皮可入葯. (梓 is a type of tree belonging to the family Bignoniaceae (紫葳科), characterized by deciduous leaves. Its tender leaves are edible and the wood is lightweight, soft, and durable, suitable for construction, furniture, and musical instruments, among other uses. Additionally, the bark can be used in herbal medicine.)” Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 左傳, 毛詩字皆作榛. 假借字也. 榛行而 Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary: “
, 果實如小栗, 從木辛聲, 春秋傳曰女摯不過 
栗. (A small fruit resembling a small chestnut. Meaning 木 and reading 辛. Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋傳) mentions that even a woman can hold chestnuts and a 栗 (hazelnut) firmly in her hand, indicating their small size.)
廢矣. 如栗而小. 與許合. 齊民要術引詩義疏云. 榛栗有二種. (In both the Zuo Zhuan (左傳) and Book of Poetry (毛詩), the characters were consistently written as 榛. It is a phonetic loan character. 榛 was used, but 
was not used. It is similar to a chestnut but smaller. It is as described by Xu Shen. The people of Qi state wanted to annotate it in poetic significance. Hazelnut is different from chestnut.)
, 同’榛’. 果木名. (
is similar to 榛. It is the name of a fruit tree.)”
The Annotated Shuowen Jiezi notes that both 梓 and 
are phono-semantic compound characters with 木 as a semantic component but different phonetic components. 梓 is the walnut tree and 
is the hazelnut tree, both nut-bearing trees. However, their fruits differ in size. In terms of the positioning of the components, we might speculate that larger fruit-bearing trees like the walnut tree might adhere to the left-right structure, while smaller fruit trees like the hazelnut tree may conform to the top-bottom arrangement, visually representing lower-hanging fruit.
(8) 㭁 and 朶 㭁, 杝, 從木乃聲, 讀若仍. (Name of a tree. Meaning 木 and reading 乃. Pronounced as 仍 (ying).) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 未詳. (The tree 㭁 is not described in detail.) 朶, 樹木垂朶朶也, 從木,象形,此與采同意. (Trees with branches and leaves hanging down. Meaning 木. A pictographic character. It is synonymous with 采 in meaning.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 凡枝葉華實之
者皆曰朶朶. 今人但謂一華爲一朶. 李鼎祚曰, 朶, 頤垂下動之皃也. (The term 朶朶 describes a lush arrangement of branches, leaves, or flowers. Presently, people refer to a single flower as 一朶. Dingzuo Li (李鼎祚) additionally suggests that 朶 depicts the movement and extension of the chin downward.)
Regarding their composition, 㭁 is a phono-semantic compound character that utilizes the 乃 component to denote sound, while 朶 is a pictographic character that visually represents branches and leaves extending downwards. Therefore, these characters not only differ in meaning but also their graphical representation. We can speculate that 朶 might have been differentiated from 㭁 by incorporating the 乃 symbol atop 木, symbolizing extended branches and leaves to distinguish it as a specific type of tree.
(9) 棘 and 棗 棘, 小棗叢生者, 從幷朿. (Small clusters of jujube trees growing together, featuring 朿 aligned in parallel.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 小棗樹叢生. 今亦隨在有之. 未成則爲棘而不實. 已成則爲棗. 魏風, 園有棘. 其實之食. 毛傳曰, 棘, 棗也. 此謂統言不別也. 從並朿會意. (Small jujube trees grow together. They are everywhere now. If they have not matured, they become thorns without bearing fruit; once mature, they turn into jujubes. “Odes of Wei” (魏風) mention a garden with jujube trees, the fruit of which is edible. The “Mao Commentary” states that 棘 and 棗 are synonymous. “棘 represents 朿 in parallel.” 棗, 羊棗也, 從重朿. (Sheep jujube trees, depicted with overlapping ‘朿’.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 羊棗卽木部之梬. 爾雅諸棗中之一. 與常棗絶殊. 不當專取以爲訓. 蓋此當云棗木也. 棗樹隨地有之. 盡人所識. 赤心而外朿. 非羊棗也. 必轉寫妄改之誤. 釋木曰, 梬, 棘, 醜喬. 棘卽棗也. 析言則分棗, 棘. 統言則曰棘. 棘正謂棗. 故注云. 取其赤心而外朿. 從重朿會意. (A sheep jujube tree is a date plum tree with a 木 radical. According to “Erya” (爾雅), it is one type of jujube tree, different from the typical one, with shorter branches. However, this should not be considered a distinct type; it should certainly be called a jujube tree. Jujube trees grow anywhere. It’s something everyone knows. It has a red core and external thorns, and it is not a sheep jujube tree. It must have been wrongly transcribed or altered. “Shimu” (釋木) stated that both date palm trees and sheep jujube trees have curved branches. 棘 is synonymous with 棗. It was referred to as 棗 and 棘 separately; however, it was called 棘 collectively. 棘 refers to 棗. That is why it was noted that the tree has red fruits and external thorns. It is a compound ideographic character, featuring 朿s on top of each other.)
Both 棗 and 棘 are compound ideographic characters formed with two 朿 components, making them conceptually very similar. 棗 refers to the common jujube tree, while 棘 signifies the sheep jujube tree. Generally, both characters are considered synonymous, but when specifically differentiated, the larger jujube tree is 棗 and the smaller sheep jujube tree is 棘. 棘, being smaller than 棗, uses 朿 arranged side by side. Although these characters were commonly used because they are closely related in meaning, 棘 has extended its meaning from “sheep jujube tree” to “thorn” due to the tree’s characteristic of having many thorns.
Lastly, we examine characters that feature 口 as their radical, which generally relate to the mouth or its activities. Among characters where 口 is a radical but the position of the radical differs, we have:
(10) 吟 and 含 吟, 呻也, 從口今聲. (To recite. Meaning 口 and reading 今.) Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary: 吟, 通“噤”. 閉口不言. (吟 is interchangeable with 噤. It implies closing the mouth and not speaking.) 含, 嗛也, 從口今聲. (Humility. Meaning 口 and reading 今.) Annotated Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字注): 禮樂志吟靑黃. 以吟爲含. (According to the “Book of Rites and Music”
(禮樂志), using 吟 for 含 indicates enjoyment of the four seasons.) Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary: 含, 東西放在口里, 不咽下也不吐出. (Putting something in the mouth, neither swallowing nor spitting it out.)
Both 含 and 吟 are phono-semantic compound characters. In the “Book of Rites and Music,” they were seen as having the same meaning. Also, according to the Comprehensive Chinese Character Dictionary, 吟 and 含 can be considered to have similar meanings. Therefore, the meaning of “closing the mouth and not speaking,” which corresponds to 噤 within the various interpretations of 吟, might have led to the creation of the character 含.
Conclusion
It was mentioned above that the positional flexibility of the radicals can vary based on the appearance of other radicals forming the character. This further reinforces the premise that there must have been a reason to create new characters even to the extent of altering the fixed positions of the radicals.
Upon analyzing the 10 pairs of characters (a total of 20 characters) from the Shuowen Jiezi constructed with the same radicals, it was found that only pairings 9 and 10 had nearly identical meanings and could be used interchangeably. The remaining eight pairs displayed semantic differences. Among these eight pairs, 2 and 8 differed significantly in character composition; 2 lacked a common ground in meaning, while 8 allowed for conjecture regarding the extended meaning relationship between the two characters. The remaining characters 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 shared similar radical structures but had semantic disparities, though they were not entirely devoid of semantic correlations. However, the strengths of the semantic associations varied across these characters.
This detailed analysis has demonstrated that even when characters are composed of the same radicals, variations in their structural composition resulted in significantly different meanings. This discrepancy arose from whether the radical played the semantic role or phonetic role in character formation.
Moreover, this analysis clearly showed that among characters with the same radical structure, there were instances where extended semantic relationships could be inferred. Chinese characters, being predominantly ideographic, often have multiple meanings, and some meanings may evolve to lead to the development of new characters, enhancing semantic differentiation. It could be argued that this process gave rise to new characters through simple adjustments in the positions of the same radicals. Analyzing characters that share the same radicals and possess semantic relevance could aid in understanding the sequence of radicals and the extension of meanings within Chinese characters.
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by Hankuk University of Foreign Studies Research Fund.
