<p>The real way to describe characters should only utilise a <strong>surface level</strong>, not <strong>recursive</strong>, decomposition.</p>

<ul>
<li><p>「紹」originally meant <em>to continue</em>. The meaning <em>introduce</em> is a semantic extension from <em>to continue > to bring two things together > to introduce</em>.</p></li>
<li><p>「紹」is made from semantic「糸」(<em>silk threads</em>) and phonetic「召」(<strong>zhào</strong> or <strong>shào</strong>).</p>

<ul>
<li><p>「糸」as a semantic component, sometimes in an abbreviated form「幺」, appears in many characters to do with <em>linking, continuation</em>, such as「繼」(<em>to continue</em>),「續」(<em>to join together</em>),「系」(<em>to tie, link > system, series</em>), 「斷」(<em>to break</em>),「胤」(<em>offspring</em>).</p></li>
<li><p>「召」is comprised of phonetic「刀」(<strong>dāo</strong>) and semantic「口」(<em>mouth</em>), and originally meant <em>to beckon, call, summon</em>. There was originally no meaning connection between「召」and「紹」; any connection between <em>to call</em> and <em>to introduce</em> is coincidental, but you can utilise this connection as a mnemonic.</p></li>
<li><p>Other characters using「召」as a phonetic component include 招昭炤沼詔邵韶.「召」, like many other components used as a phonetic, may not contribute any semantic value to the whole character.</p></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-10T03:26:01.593Z
I think the above was my first question here. This answer is beyond fantastic. Thank you!
Jonathan Plas
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-10T12:56:31.837Z
From the 尚書/書經 (Classic of History): **紹**復先王之大業 = The great inheritance of the former kings will be _continued_ and renewed.
Michaelyus
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-24T02:17:01.173Z
@droooze I can see you understand a lot about chinese character etymology. Could you recommend some good reliable books on that matter?
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-24T02:23:36.827Z
@EnricoBrasil Sure...(1) General history, Qiu Xigui's *Chinese Writing*, available in English; (2) General character reference, 季旭昇《說文新證》, only in Chinese; (3) Online web resources, passable but not as good as some of the books out there - http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/ and http://chinese-linguipedia.org/. If you own Outlier's app, the references they quote in their character entries are very good. This community is also for asking detailed questions, so if there's something you don't understand you can just ask here!
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-25T18:26:16.197Z
@droooze I knew the first website and the second one is a really good one, thank you very much! I'll try to find the books.
Enrico Brasil
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-12-09T22:37:40.183Z
2018-12-10T01:26:02.837Z
2018-12-10T01:26:02.837Z
dROOOze
<p>Any ideas on the origin of the 绍 character? Studying for finals and I need a coherent way to associate the silk, knife, and mouth radicals. In the phrase 介绍. </p>

<glyph-origin>
Any ideas on the origin of the 绍 character?
# Any ideas on the origin of the 绍 character?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2018-12-09)

Any ideas on the origin of the 绍 character? Studying for finals and I need a coherent way to associate the silk, knife, and mouth radicals. In the phrase 介绍.

**Tags:** glyph-origin


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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2018-12-09. Score: 8 | Accepted answer

The real way to describe characters should only utilise a **surface level**, not **recursive**, decomposition.

* 「紹」originally meant *to continue*. The meaning *introduce* is a semantic extension from *to continue > to bring two things together > to introduce*.
* 「紹」is made from semantic「糸」(*silk threads*) and phonetic「召」(**zhào** or **shào**).

  + 「糸」as a semantic component, sometimes in an abbreviated form「幺」, appears in many characters to do with *linking, continuation*, such as「繼」(*to continue*),「續」(*to join together*),「系」(*to tie, link > system, series*), 「斷」(*to break*),「胤」(*offspring*).
  + 「召」is comprised of phonetic「刀」(**dāo**) and semantic「口」(*mouth*), and originally meant *to beckon, call, summon*. There was originally no meaning connection between「召」and「紹」; any connection between *to call* and *to introduce* is coincidental, but you can utilise this connection as a mnemonic.
  + Other characters using「召」as a phonetic component include 招昭炤沼詔邵韶.「召」, like many other components used as a phonetic, may not contribute any semantic value to the whole character.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: I think the above was my first question here. This answer is beyond fantastic. Thank you!  
> **username_2**: From the 尚書/書經 (Classic of History): **紹**復先王之大業 = The great inheritance of the former kings will be _continued_ and renewed.  
> **username_3**: @droooze I can see you understand a lot about chinese character etymology. Could you recommend some good reliable books on that matter?  
> **username_1**: @EnricoBrasil Sure...(1) General history, Qiu Xigui's *Chinese Writing*, available in English; (2) General character reference, 季旭昇《說文新證》, only in Chinese; (3) Online web resources, passable but not as good as some of the books out there - http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/ and http://chinese-linguipedia.org/. If you own Outlier's app, the references they quote in their character entries are very good. This community is also for asking detailed questions, so if there's something you don't understand you can just ask here!  
> **username_3**: @droooze I knew the first website and the second one is a really good one, thank you very much! I'll try to find the books.  

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