<p>According to Outlier Dictionary (citing 《說文新證》), it's a sound loan, which is a very common way for characters to acquire new and unrelated meanings. The words for &quot;separate&quot; and &quot;eight&quot;, at least at the time the loan happened, had an identical or very similar sound.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-22T17:21:51.423Z
2020-07-22T17:56:10.870Z
2020-07-22T17:56:10.870Z
Lionel Rowe
<p>This word &quot;扒”, It is related to &quot;eight&quot; and &quot;separate&quot; .</p>
<p>Exam:“扒开” means is :To separate two or more things with a hand or tool.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-23T00:02:19.407Z
2020-07-23T00:02:19.407Z
leb
<p>Generally speaking, we cannot create pictures or ideograms for every <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme" rel="noreferrer">morpheme</a> in a language; we'll quickly run into practicality issues if we try to do so. 「八」 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Baxter%E2%80%93Sagart_(2014)" rel="noreferrer">Baxter-Sagart OC</a>: <strong>/*pˤret/</strong>) should be treated as just a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebus#Rebus_principle" rel="noreferrer">rebus</a> or <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character_classification#Rebus_(phonetic_loan)_characters" rel="noreferrer">phonetic loan</a> for <em>eight</em>.</p>
<p>As an ideogram representing <em>to separate</em>, 「八」 either [represented a morpheme <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognate" rel="noreferrer">cognate</a> with] or [was the original representation of] 「分」 (<strong>/*pə[n]/</strong>, <em>to separate</em>), with the component 「八」 serving simultaneously as a meaning and sound hint in 「分」.</p>
<p><sub>If 「八」 was the original form of 「分」, then in terms of character development, 「八」 complexified into 「分」 via the addition of 「刀」 (<em>knife</em>, indicating the meaning <em>to separate an object into two with a knife</em>) after 「八」 was overused for the meaning <em>eight</em>, causing a need to disambiguate the two morphemes <em>eight</em> and <em>separate</em>.</sub></p>
<p><sub>In any case, it is quite likely that the original morpheme that 「八」 represented is now [also] written as 「別」 (<strong>/*pret/</strong>, <em>to divide</em>). The financial numeral for <em>eight</em>, 「捌」, still uses 「別」 as a phonetic component, showing the conservative nature of the sound of 「八」 for an ancient morpheme meaning <em>to divide, differentiate, separate</em>.</sub></p>
<hr />
<p>The <em>good luck and fortune</em> meaning (發財) is an unrelated wordplay, although it touches on the same kind of rebus principle. 「發」 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Chinese" rel="noreferrer">Middle Chinese</a>: <strong>/pʉɐt̚/</strong>) sounds similar enough to 「八」 (<strong>/pˠɛt̚/</strong>) for this purpose, and in an alternate universe or a now-lost topolect, 「八」 might have been used as a phonetic loan for 「發」.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-07-22T17:31:33.240Z
2020-07-22T18:02:42.227Z
2020-07-22T18:02:42.227Z
dROOOze
<p><a href="http://zhongwen.com/cgi-bin/zipux.cgi?=%A4K" rel="noreferrer">Zhongwen.com</a> says that 八 is an &quot;ideograph representing division&quot;, what is easy to see. So the old meaning of &quot;separate&quot; is also clear. But how did it came to represent the number 8?</p>
<p>All I've found so far is its association with 发 (发财), thus with good luck in general.</p>
<p>I want to know if there's any relation between &quot;separate&quot; and &quot;8&quot;.</p>

<etymology><number>
What's the relationship between "separate" and "eight" (old and modern meanings of 八)?
# What's the relationship between "separate" and "eight" (old and modern meanings of 八)?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2020-07-22)

[Zhongwen.com](http://zhongwen.com/cgi-bin/zipux.cgi?=%A4K) says that 八 is an "ideograph representing division", what is easy to see. So the old meaning of "separate" is also clear. But how did it came to represent the number 8?

All I've found so far is its association with 发 (发财), thus with good luck in general.

I want to know if there's any relation between "separate" and "8".

**Tags:** etymology, number


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## 3 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2020-07-22. Score: 7 | Accepted answer

Generally speaking, we cannot create pictures or ideograms for every [morpheme](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morpheme) in a language; we'll quickly run into practicality issues if we try to do so. 「八」 ([Baxter-Sagart OC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Baxter%E2%80%93Sagart_(2014)): **/\*pˤret/**) should be treated as just a [rebus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rebus#Rebus_principle) or [phonetic loan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character_classification#Rebus_(phonetic_loan)_characters) for *eight*.

As an ideogram representing *to separate*, 「八」 either [represented a morpheme [cognate](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognate) with] or [was the original representation of] 「分」 (**/\*pə[n]/**, *to separate*), with the component 「八」 serving simultaneously as a meaning and sound hint in 「分」.

If 「八」 was the original form of 「分」, then in terms of character development, 「八」 complexified into 「分」 via the addition of 「刀」 (*knife*, indicating the meaning *to separate an object into two with a knife*) after 「八」 was overused for the meaning *eight*, causing a need to disambiguate the two morphemes *eight* and *separate*.

In any case, it is quite likely that the original morpheme that 「八」 represented is now [also] written as 「別」 (**/\*pret/**, *to divide*). The financial numeral for *eight*, 「捌」, still uses 「別」 as a phonetic component, showing the conservative nature of the sound of 「八」 for an ancient morpheme meaning *to divide, differentiate, separate*.

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The *good luck and fortune* meaning (發財) is an unrelated wordplay, although it touches on the same kind of rebus principle. 「發」 ([Middle Chinese](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_Chinese): **/pʉɐt̚/**) sounds similar enough to 「八」 (**/pˠɛt̚/**) for this purpose, and in an alternate universe or a now-lost topolect, 「八」 might have been used as a phonetic loan for 「發」.


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### Answer by username_1 on 2020-07-22. Score: 3

According to Outlier Dictionary (citing 《說文新證》), it's a sound loan, which is a very common way for characters to acquire new and unrelated meanings. The words for "separate" and "eight", at least at the time the loan happened, had an identical or very similar sound.


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### Answer by username_2 on 2020-07-23. Score: 2

This word "扒”, It is related to "eight" and "separate" .

Exam:“扒开” means is :To separate two or more things with a hand or tool.


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