Dong Chinese dictionary

xí

practice

Original meaning:

scorch

Simplified form of 習. Phonosemantic compound. 彗 represents the sound and 日 represents the meaning. Based on the original meaning "to scorch". The current meaning is a phonetic loan. The traditional component 日 was removed for simplification.

Components

彗 Sound Simplified component

huì

broom

习 and 彗 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.习 /*s-ɢʷəp (with root *ɢʷəp ‘wing’?)/
彗 /*s-[ɢ]ʷe[t]-s/

日 Meaning Deleted component

rì

sun

The traditional component 日 was removed for simplification.

日 hints at the original meaning of 习, "scorch", which is no longer the most common meaning of 习 in modern Mandarin.

Evolution