<p>"賣" / mai4 / and ""/du2/ have different sound</p>

<p>瀆 as in 自瀆      /du2/</p>

<p>犢 as in 初生之犢 /du4/</p>

<p>讀 as in 讀書 /du2/</p>

<p>they are all phonically similar</p>

<p>from <a href="http://www.shuowen.org/view/1489" rel="nofollow">http://www.shuowen.org/view/1489</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>从言。聲。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>from <a href="http://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&amp;char=%F0%A7%B6%A0&amp;remap=gb" rel="nofollow">http://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&amp;char=%F0%A7%B6%A0&amp;remap=gb</a></p>

<blockquote>
  <p>《康熙字典》.... 中从囧，非字也。</p>
</blockquote>

<p>It said the middle of  is 囧, it is not the the word ""(sell) (I think it meant not the word "賣" )</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-12T04:15:41.143Z
2016-08-12T04:39:01.347Z
2016-08-12T04:39:01.347Z
Tang Ho
<p>well, 賣(u+8ce3) is sell; while (u+27da0) is pronounced as "育".</p>

<p>left is 賣(u+8ce3), right is (u+27da0), note the difference of the middle component:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/lodIV.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/lodIV.png" alt="screenshot"></a></p>

<p>well, in the past, 賣(u+8ce3) is for 買賣 (buy &amp; sell) only. other characters e.g., 讀, 贖, 覿, 續 are using (u+27da0).</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/UmIvh.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/UmIvh.png" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>so, 讀 as a phonosemantic compound character is, combined "言" &amp; (u+27da0); that's why it's 屋韻﹒徒谷切</p>

<p>somewhere in time, the (u+27da0) is less used, and 賣 is more "popular"; which causes confusing.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-12T10:49:18.173Z
Are there any clues to what  means, or is it only seen as a component in other characters?
Peter Olson
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-13T01:26:51.123Z
說文解字 explained (u+27da0)﹒ 衒也; that  = 衒; and, 衒 is (same, from 說文解字) 行且賣也 (~ peddle, selling goods from place to place). in summary,  (u+27da0) means peddle, roughly.
水巷孑蠻
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-08-12T05:12:55.277Z
2016-08-12T05:12:55.277Z
水巷孑蠻
<p>Most sources I can find say that 讀 (读) is a phonosemantic compound (形聲), where 言 is the semantic component and 賣 is the phonetic component.</p>

<p>However, the pronunciation of 賣 (mài) does not resemble 讀 (dú) at all, even in Middle Chinese (賣 /mai/; 讀 /duk/) or Old Chinese (賣 /mreːs/; 讀 /l'oːɡ/).</p>

<p>What is the purpose of the 賣 component in the character 讀?</p>

<characters><etymology><glyph-origin>
What is the purpose of the 賣 (卖) component in the character 讀 (读)?
# What is the purpose of the 賣 (卖) component in the character 讀 (读)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-08-12)

Most sources I can find say that 讀 (读) is a phonosemantic compound (形聲), where 言 is the semantic component and 賣 is the phonetic component.

However, the pronunciation of 賣 (mài) does not resemble 讀 (dú) at all, even in Middle Chinese (賣 /mai/; 讀 /duk/) or Old Chinese (賣 /mreːs/; 讀 /l'oːɡ/).

What is the purpose of the 賣 component in the character 讀?

**Tags:** characters, etymology, glyph-origin


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## 2 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2016-08-12. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

well, 賣(u+8ce3) is sell; while (u+27da0) is pronounced as "育".

left is 賣(u+8ce3), right is (u+27da0), note the difference of the middle component:

[![screenshot](https://i.sstatic.net/lodIV.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/lodIV.png)

well, in the past, 賣(u+8ce3) is for 買賣 (buy & sell) only. other characters e.g., 讀, 贖, 覿, 續 are using (u+27da0).

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/UmIvh.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/UmIvh.png)

so, 讀 as a phonosemantic compound character is, combined "言" & (u+27da0); that's why it's 屋韻﹒徒谷切

somewhere in time, the (u+27da0) is less used, and 賣 is more "popular"; which causes confusing.

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: Are there any clues to what  means, or is it only seen as a component in other characters?  
> **username_2**: 說文解字 explained (u+27da0)﹒ 衒也; that  = 衒; and, 衒 is (same, from 說文解字) 行且賣也 (~ peddle, selling goods from place to place). in summary,  (u+27da0) means peddle, roughly.  

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### Answer by username_1 on 2016-08-12. Score: 1

"賣" / mai4 / and ""/du2/ have different sound

瀆 as in 自瀆 /du2/

犢 as in 初生之犢 /du4/

讀 as in 讀書 /du2/

they are all phonically similar

from <http://www.shuowen.org/view/1489>

> 从言。聲。

from <http://ctext.org/dictionary.pl?if=gb&char=%F0%A7%B6%A0&remap=gb>

> 《康熙字典》.... 中从囧，非字也。

It said the middle of is 囧, it is not the the word ""(sell) (I think it meant not the word "賣" )


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