<p>No, they shouldn't; this is a misunderstanding of what the components in those characters came from.</p>

<hr>

<p>「尸」does not mean <em>corpse</em>; it is a picture of a squatting person, and is used as a component representing a person's physical body in other characters.</p>

<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">商</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">甲</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/SQ3hA.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/SQ3hA.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">鐵</a>35.2<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=20643&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集20643</a></kbd><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">秦</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips" rel="nofollow noreferrer">簡</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/qCae5.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/qCae5.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/QinwenziReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">日甲</a>112<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuihudi_Qin_bamboo_texts" rel="nofollow noreferrer">睡虎地秦簡</a></kbd><kbd>今<br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">楷</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/6x61s.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/6x61s.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>

<ul>
<li><p>「尿」was originally a picture of someone urinating.</p>

<p><kbd>商<br>甲<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/m3kfn.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/m3kfn.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">菁</a>5.1<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=137&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集137</a></kbd></p></li>
<li><p>「尾」was originally a picture of a person and the shape of a tail at the backside.</p>

<p><kbd>商<br>甲<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/CghuJ.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/CghuJ.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">乙</a>4293<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=136&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集136</a></kbd></p></li>
<li><p>「屎」was originally a picture of someone defecating in a field.</p>

<p><kbd>商<br>甲<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/5GJpO.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/5GJpO.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">後</a>2.35.7<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=9574&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集9574</a></kbd></p></li>
<li><p>「屁」contains phonetic「比」.</p></li>
<li>「居」(<em>residence/dwelling</em>, Baxter-Sagart OC: <strong>/*k(r)a/</strong>, <strong>/*ka/</strong>, <strong>/*k(r)a-s/</strong>) contains

<ul>
<li>semantic「尸」(<em>body</em>)</li>
<li>phonetic「古」(Baxter-Sagart OC: <strong>/*kˤaʔ/</strong>)</li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

<hr>

<p>「屋」(<em>building</em>/<em>room</em>/<em>house</em>) did not contain「尸」!「屋」was a picture of a tent, and this word is now written as「幄」.</p>

<p><kbd><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_seal_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">篆</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/hrBcT.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/hrBcT.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>說文古文<br>　</kbd></p>

<p>In「屋」,「至」was missing in earlier forms and later added on; it is an abbreviation of「室」(also <em>room</em>/<em>house</em>) functioning as a semantic component.</p>

<p>The tent shape was later subject to gradual corruption into「尸」.</p>

<p><kbd><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Zhou" rel="nofollow noreferrer">西周</a><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions" rel="nofollow noreferrer">金</a><br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/Xy8Qy.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/Xy8Qy.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>訓匜「」<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=10285" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成10285</a></kbd><kbd><br>篆<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/UbCfT.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/UbCfT.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br>說文<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shizhoupian" rel="nofollow noreferrer">籀文</a><br>　</kbd><kbd>今<br>楷<br><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/2xEkk.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/2xEkk.png" alt="enter image description here"></a><br><br>　</kbd></p>

<hr>

<p><strong>References:</strong></p>

<ul>
<li>季旭昇《說文新證》</li>
<li><a href="http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">小學堂</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">國學大師</a>

<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">郭沫若《甲骨文合集》</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》</a></li>
</ul></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-09-09T12:57:41.147Z
2020-01-23T04:30:32.377Z
2020-01-23T04:30:32.377Z
dROOOze
<p>The character 尸 actually represents a sitting person while acting as a component.</p>

<p>The character 居 is 尸 + 古 (a baby 子turned upside down: ）, the place where women sit down and have children: settlement.</p>

<p>The character 屋 is 尸 + 至 (arriving: an arrow landing in the hround), the place where people arrive and sit down: house, residence.</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-01-28T04:12:07.663Z
2017-01-28T04:12:07.663Z
Alex Alder
<p>户 means home. So these examples are not suprising: 房 fáng (house),  扁 biǎn (flat), 扇 shàn (fan [mostly used indoor]), 扉 fēi (door)</p>

<p>尸 means corpse, and it looks like it refers to tail or something leaving downwards, so these examples are not suprising either:
尿 niào (urine), 尾 wěi (tail), 屎 shǐ (poo), 屁 pì (fart)</p>

<p>However, 屋 wū (room) and 居 jū (live) under 尸 is suprising since it seems to belong more to 户 by its meaning.</p>

<p>Is this discrepancy above due to a calligraphical mistake or lazyness, namely, leaving off that one tick, made a long time ago?</p>

<p>sources:</p>

<p><a href="http://justlearnchinese.com/chinese-radical-show-home-radical-42/">http://justlearnchinese.com/chinese-radical-show-home-radical-42/</a></p>

<p><a href="http://justlearnchinese.com/chinese-radical-show-corpse-radical-41/">http://justlearnchinese.com/chinese-radical-show-corpse-radical-41/</a></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-21T16:35:35.360Z
尸 was 屍 before simplification, where death is stressed in 死 not 尸 itself.
bfrguci
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-07-22T00:55:43.383Z
It's a very interesting question that , as I am a Chinese, never occurred to me.  Thanks for asking from a different perspective.
Meruemu
<meaning><characters><etymology><radicals><glyph-origin>
Should 屋 and 居 use radical 户 instead of 尸?
# Should 屋 and 居 use radical 户 instead of 尸?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-07-20)

户 means home. So these examples are not suprising: 房 fáng (house), 扁 biǎn (flat), 扇 shàn (fan [mostly used indoor]), 扉 fēi (door)

尸 means corpse, and it looks like it refers to tail or something leaving downwards, so these examples are not suprising either:
尿 niào (urine), 尾 wěi (tail), 屎 shǐ (poo), 屁 pì (fart)

However, 屋 wū (room) and 居 jū (live) under 尸 is suprising since it seems to belong more to 户 by its meaning.

Is this discrepancy above due to a calligraphical mistake or lazyness, namely, leaving off that one tick, made a long time ago?

sources:

<http://justlearnchinese.com/chinese-radical-show-home-radical-42/>

<http://justlearnchinese.com/chinese-radical-show-corpse-radical-41/>

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

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: 尸 was 屍 before simplification, where death is stressed in 死 not 尸 itself.  
> **username_2**: It's a very interesting question that , as I am a Chinese, never occurred to me.  Thanks for asking from a different perspective.  

---

## 2 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2018-09-09. Score: 3

No, they shouldn't; this is a misunderstanding of what the components in those characters came from.

---

「尸」does not mean *corpse*; it is a picture of a squatting person, and is used as a component representing a person's physical body in other characters.

`商  
甲  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/SQ3hA.png)  
鐵35.2  
合集20643``秦  
簡  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/qCae5.png)  
日甲112  
睡虎地秦簡``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/6x61s.png)`

* 「尿」was originally a picture of someone urinating.

  `商  
  甲  
  ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/m3kfn.png)  
  菁5.1  
  合集137`
* 「尾」was originally a picture of a person and the shape of a tail at the backside.

  `商  
  甲  
  ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/CghuJ.png)  
  乙4293  
  合集136`
* 「屎」was originally a picture of someone defecating in a field.

  `商  
  甲  
  ![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/5GJpO.png)  
  後2.35.7  
  合集9574`
* 「屁」contains phonetic「比」.
* 「居」(*residence/dwelling*, Baxter-Sagart OC: **/\*k(r)a/**, **/\*ka/**, **/\*k(r)a-s/**) contains
  + semantic「尸」(*body*)
  + phonetic「古」(Baxter-Sagart OC: **/\*kˤaʔ/**)

---

「屋」(*building*/*room*/*house*) did not contain「尸」!「屋」was a picture of a tent, and this word is now written as「幄」.

`篆  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/hrBcT.png)  
說文古文`

In「屋」,「至」was missing in earlier forms and later added on; it is an abbreviation of「室」(also *room*/*house*) functioning as a semantic component.

The tent shape was later subject to gradual corruption into「尸」.

`西周  
金  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/Xy8Qy.png)  
訓匜「」  
集成10285` `篆  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/UbCfT.png)  
說文籀文``今  
楷  
![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/2xEkk.png)`

---

**References:**

* 季旭昇《說文新證》
* [小學堂](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/)
* [國學大師](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/)
  + [郭沫若《甲骨文合集》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/)
  + [中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/)


---

### Answer by username_4 on 2017-01-28. Score: 2

The character 尸 actually represents a sitting person while acting as a component.

The character 居 is 尸 + 古 (a baby 子turned upside down: ）, the place where women sit down and have children: settlement.

The character 屋 is 尸 + 至 (arriving: an arrow landing in the hround), the place where people arrive and sit down: house, residence.


---

