<p>As for the auxiliary question, why 贼 is pronounced so differently to 戎 / 绒, that's because 贼's phonetic component is not on the right hand side, but kind of on the left hand side.</p>

<p>Although modern 賊 is written as ⿰貝戎, <a href="https://hanziyuan.net/#%E8%B3%8A" rel="nofollow noreferrer">in the Bronze Script</a> it was ⿹戈則, where 則 is the phonetic. The phonetic correspondences are thus not too bad: </p>

<ul>
<li>modern standard Mandarin: 則 <em>zé</em> vs 賊 <em>zéi</em>; </li>
<li>Cantonese: 則 <em>zak1</em> vs 賊 <em>caak6</em>; </li>
<li>Min Nan - Hokkien (literary): 則 <em>chek</em> vs 賊 <em>che̍k</em>;</li>
<li>Min Dong - Fuzhounese: 則 <em>cáik</em> vs 賊 <em>chĕk</em></li>
<li>Wu - Shanghainese: 則 <em>tseq</em> vs 賊 <em>zeq</em></li>
<li>Middle Chinese: 則 = 子德切 /t͡sək̚/ vs 賊 = 昨則切 /d͡zək̚/</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-04T00:14:54.597Z
Thanks for catching that question, I missed it completely. I’ve amended my answer to show the paleography of 賊.
dROOOze
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-03T11:10:40.887Z
2020-03-03T11:10:40.887Z
Michaelyus
<p>The characters resemble each other because 「戒」 was subject to a slight amount of structural shuffling and the original lower-left component of 「戎」 is of a simple shape, so most people won't recognise what it actually is.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>As far as I can recall, the only other place that the lower-left component of 「戎」 occurs in is the top of 「古」.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>「戒」 and 「戎」 aren't the same character, they don't descend from the same character, and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme" rel="noreferrer">morphemes</a> they represent aren't related (except in the sense of semantics - both are pictographs containing <a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=127" rel="noreferrer">「戈」</a>, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagger-axe" rel="noreferrer"><em>dagger-axe</em></a>).</p>
<p>It follows that they sound completely different, whether as individual characters or as part of a phonetic hint function in other characters.</p>
<hr />
<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty" rel="noreferrer">商</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script" rel="noreferrer">甲</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/DTXFO.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/DTXFO.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="noreferrer">乙</a>657<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=7060&amp;jgwfl=" rel="noreferrer">合集7060</a></kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Zhou" rel="noreferrer">西周</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions" rel="noreferrer">金</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/VqLoq.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/VqLoq.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>戒叔尊<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=5856&amp;jgwfl=" rel="noreferrer">集成5856</a></kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty" rel="noreferrer">秦</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips" rel="noreferrer">簡</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lcpiw.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lcpiw.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference" rel="noreferrer">為</a>33<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuihudi_Qin_bamboo_texts" rel="noreferrer">睡虎地秦簡</a></kbd><kbd>今<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script" rel="noreferrer">楷</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/3BxTS.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/3BxTS.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>
<p>「戒」 depicts <em>two hands</em> <a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=60" rel="noreferrer">「廾」</a> holding up a <em>dagger-axe</em> 「戈」, indicating the meaning <em>to warn/caution</em>. 「廾」 later migrated to the lower-left of the character and no longer appears to be holding up the weapon anymore; the structural analogy to the original form is 「」.</p>
<hr />
<p><kbd>商<br>甲<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/QVuGt.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/QVuGt.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="noreferrer">拾</a>9.12<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=6890&amp;jgwfl=" rel="noreferrer">合集6890</a></kbd><kbd>西周<br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/mePcM.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/mePcM.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>班簋<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=4341&amp;jgwfl=" rel="noreferrer">集成4341</a></kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/yyaUW.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/yyaUW.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>
<p>「戎」 depicts a <em>dagger-axe</em> 「戈」 together with a <em>shield</em>, indicating the meaning <em>armaments</em>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Shield</em> is now written as 「盾」. The original character doesn't exist individually anymore, but remains as the top component of <a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=200" rel="noreferrer">「古」</a> (<em>solid, sturdy</em>, now written as 「固」).</p>
<p><kbd>商<br>甲<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ed4OU.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ed4OU.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="noreferrer">林</a>2.24.6<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=16347&amp;jgwfl=" rel="noreferrer">合集16347</a></kbd><kbd>西周<br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/A9Bk3.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/A9Bk3.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>秉毌父乙爵<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=8871&amp;jgwfl=" rel="noreferrer">集成8871</a></kbd></p>
<p>This character was later replaced by the new character 「盾」, which depicts a side view of the shield with an <em>eye looking straight</em> <a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=1034" rel="noreferrer">「直」</a> peering from underneath the cover of the shield.</p>
<p><kbd>西周<br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ksg7K.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ksg7K.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>五年師簋<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=4216&amp;jgwfl=" rel="noreferrer">集成4216</a></kbd><kbd>秦<br>簡<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/2E8EY.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/2E8EY.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference" rel="noreferrer">效</a>3<br>睡虎地秦簡</kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/ouOW0.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/ouOW0.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<p>As for 「賊」, it doesn't actually contain 「戎」. 「賊」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: <strong>/*k.dzˤək/</strong>, <em>to ruin/damage/destroy</em>) is comprised of semantic 「戈」 (<em>dagger-axe</em>) and phonetic <a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=1140" rel="noreferrer">「則」</a> (<strong>/*[ts]ˤək/</strong>). The 「刂」 part was later corrupted into a 「」 shape, causing the right hand side of 「賊」 to be misinterpreted as 「戎」.</p>
<p><kbd>西周<br>金<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/s1owG.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/s1owG.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>散氏盤<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=10176&amp;jgwfl=" rel="noreferrer">集成10176</a></kbd><kbd>秦<br>簡<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/aZrdk.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/aZrdk.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference" rel="noreferrer">法</a>76<br>睡虎地秦簡</kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_han" rel="noreferrer">東漢</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clerical_script" rel="noreferrer">隸</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/XslVI.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/XslVI.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br>韓勑碑陰<br>　</kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/upoOK.png" rel="noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/upoOK.png" alt="enter image description here" /></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-03-03T09:59:49.467Z
2020-03-04T00:09:49.513Z
2020-06-17T09:50:11.587Z
dROOOze
<p>Why are these words written similarly? Do they descend from a common Chinese character? If so, how do you explain the difference in pronunciations among derived words, especially for 戎?</p>

<p>投笔从<strong>戎</strong> róng
盗<strong>贼</strong> zéi
<strong>绒</strong>毛 róng</p>

<characters><glyph-origin>
Why are the words 戒 and 戎 written similarly?
# Why are the words 戒 and 戎 written similarly?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-03-03)

Why are these words written similarly? Do they descend from a common Chinese character? If so, how do you explain the difference in pronunciations among derived words, especially for 戎?

投笔从**戎** róng
盗**贼** zéi
**绒**毛 róng

**Tags:** characters, glyph-origin


---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2020-03-03. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

The characters resemble each other because 「戒」 was subject to a slight amount of structural shuffling and the original lower-left component of 「戎」 is of a simple shape, so most people won't recognise what it actually is.

> As far as I can recall, the only other place that the lower-left component of 「戎」 occurs in is the top of 「古」.

「戒」 and 「戎」 aren't the same character, they don't descend from the same character, and the [morphemes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme) they represent aren't related (except in the sense of semantics - both are pictographs containing [「戈」](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=127), [*dagger-axe*](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dagger-axe)).

It follows that they sound completely different, whether as individual characters or as part of a phonetic hint function in other characters.

---

`商  
甲  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/DTXFO.png)  
乙657  
合集7060``西周  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/VqLoq.png)  
戒叔尊  
集成5856``秦  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/lcpiw.png)  
為33  
睡虎地秦簡``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/3BxTS.png)`

「戒」 depicts *two hands* [「廾」](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=60) holding up a *dagger-axe* 「戈」, indicating the meaning *to warn/caution*. 「廾」 later migrated to the lower-left of the character and no longer appears to be holding up the weapon anymore; the structural analogy to the original form is 「」.

---

`商  
甲  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/QVuGt.png)  
拾9.12  
合集6890``西周  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/mePcM.png)  
班簋  
集成4341``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/yyaUW.png)`

「戎」 depicts a *dagger-axe* 「戈」 together with a *shield*, indicating the meaning *armaments*.

> *Shield* is now written as 「盾」. The original character doesn't exist individually anymore, but remains as the top component of [「古」](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=200) (*solid, sturdy*, now written as 「固」).
>
> `商  
> 甲  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ed4OU.png)  
> 林2.24.6  
> 合集16347``西周  
> 金  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/A9Bk3.png)  
> 秉毌父乙爵  
> 集成8871`
>
> This character was later replaced by the new character 「盾」, which depicts a side view of the shield with an *eye looking straight* [「直」](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=1034) peering from underneath the cover of the shield.
>
> `西周  
> 金  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ksg7K.png)  
> 五年師簋  
> 集成4216``秦  
> 簡  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/2E8EY.png)  
> 效3  
> 睡虎地秦簡``今  
> 楷  
> ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/ouOW0.png)`

---

As for 「賊」, it doesn't actually contain 「戎」. 「賊」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: **/\*k.dzˤək/**, *to ruin/damage/destroy*) is comprised of semantic 「戈」 (*dagger-axe*) and phonetic [「則」](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=1140) (**/\*[ts]ˤək/**). The 「刂」 part was later corrupted into a 「」 shape, causing the right hand side of 「賊」 to be misinterpreted as 「戎」.

`西周  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/s1owG.png)  
散氏盤  
集成10176``秦  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/aZrdk.png)  
法76  
睡虎地秦簡``東漢  
隸  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/XslVI.png)  
韓勑碑陰``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/upoOK.png)`


---

### Answer by username_1 on 2020-03-03. Score: 4

As for the auxiliary question, why 贼 is pronounced so differently to 戎 / 绒, that's because 贼's phonetic component is not on the right hand side, but kind of on the left hand side.

Although modern 賊 is written as ⿰貝戎, [in the Bronze Script](https://hanziyuan.net/#%E8%B3%8A) it was ⿹戈則, where 則 is the phonetic. The phonetic correspondences are thus not too bad:

* modern standard Mandarin: 則 *zé* vs 賊 *zéi*;
* Cantonese: 則 *zak1* vs 賊 *caak6*;
* Min Nan - Hokkien (literary): 則 *chek* vs 賊 *che̍k*;
* Min Dong - Fuzhounese: 則 *cáik* vs 賊 *chĕk*
* Wu - Shanghainese: 則 *tseq* vs 賊 *zeq*
* Middle Chinese: 則 = 子德切 /t͡sək̚/ vs 賊 = 昨則切 /d͡zək̚/

> **Comments:**
> **username_2**: Thanks for catching that question, I missed it completely. I’ve amended my answer to show the paleography of 賊.  

---

