<div class="s-table-container">
<table class="s-table">
<thead>
<tr>
<th style="text-align: center;">時期<br>字體</th>
<th style="text-align: center;">字形</th>
<th style="text-align: center;">參考資料</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><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></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/wzz6C.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/wzz6C.png" alt="⿱自丙" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference" rel="nofollow noreferrer">後</a>2.22.16<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=28058&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">合集28058</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><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></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/rUyY7.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/rUyY7.png" alt="⿰彳臱" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Yu_ding" rel="nofollow noreferrer">大盂鼎</a><br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=2837&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成2837</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;">西周<br>金</td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/GPMbW.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/GPMbW.png" alt="邊" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">散氏盤<br><a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=10176&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">集成10176</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period" rel="nofollow noreferrer">戰國</a>・<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_(state)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">秦</a><br>石刻文</td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vSsfp.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vSsfp.png" alt="邊" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;">詛楚文</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td style="text-align: center;"><br><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script" rel="nofollow noreferrer">楷</a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/t7G7f.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/t7G7f.png" alt="邊" /></a></td>
<td style="text-align: center;"></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
<p>「邊」 (<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Baxter%E2%80%93Sagart_(2014)" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Baxter-Sagart OC</a>: <strong>/*pˤe[n]/</strong>, <em>borders</em> [e.g. of a political territory or geographical region]) was originally constructed from semantic <a href="https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=436" rel="nofollow noreferrer">「自」</a> (<em>from, beginning of</em> [a location]) and phonetic <a href="https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=157" rel="nofollow noreferrer">「丙」</a> (<strong>/*praŋʔ/</strong>). To clarify, 「自」 (<em>from</em>) is used to indicate that <em>A political territory starts <strong>from</strong> its <strong>borders</strong></em>.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>「自」 indeed was originally a picture of a <em>nose</em>. However, very early on, it was used for a word meaning <em>from</em> [a location], e.g. <a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=24228&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">《甲骨文合集》24228</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/HjrXQ.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/HjrXQ.jpg" alt="《甲骨文合集》24228" /></a><p>
辛酉卜，尹鼎（貞）：＂王步<strong>自</strong>商，亡（無）（災）？＂<p>
<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone#Shang_divination" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Divination</a> on the day of <a href="https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BE%9B%E9%85%89" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>xīnyǒu</em></a>, <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E8%B4%9E%E4%BA%BA" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Oracle Yǐn</a> asked: &quot;The King is to set off <strong>from</strong> <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Shāng</a> territory. This won't be disastrous, right?&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<p>Later on, 「彳」 (<em>roads</em>) and/or 「辵・辶」 (<em>movement along roads</em>) was added.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Note that, in older characters, 「彳」, 「止」, and 「辵・辶」 are often interchangeable as semantic components. See e.g. <a href="https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/34264/glyph-origins-of-%E9%80%B2">Glyph origins of '進'</a>.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>「方」 (<strong>/*paŋ/</strong>, <em>direction, side</em> &gt; <a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E6%96%B9%E5%9B%BD" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><em>neighbouring state</em> 方國</a>) was also either added to the character or replaces 「丙」 as another phonetic component, and perhaps also acts as a semantic component.</p>
<blockquote>
<p>「方」 was very early on used to denote neighbouring states to Shāng, e.g. from <a href="http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&amp;bh=6409&amp;jgwfl=" rel="nofollow noreferrer">《甲骨文合集》6409</a>:<p>
<a href="https://i.sstatic.net/6q87y.png" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/6q87y.png" alt="《甲骨文合集》6409" /></a><p></p>
<blockquote>
<p>丁酉卜，㱿鼎（貞）：＂今⿱屮口（早）王廾（供）人五千正（征）土方，⿳爫舟又（受）㞢（有）又（祐）?＂<p>
Divination on the day of <em>dīngyǒu</em>, Oracle Què asked: “This morning, the King gathered five thousand people to go on a military expedition towards the State of Tǔ; will they receive Divine Protection?”</p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>
<hr />
<p>Note that 「穴」 is an attempt to capture the shape of 「丙」; there is no functional 「穴」 in the character.</p>
<hr />
<p><strong>References:</strong></p>
<ul>
<li>杜忠誥《說文篆文訛形釋例》</li>
<li>何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》</li>
<li><a href="https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/" rel="nofollow noreferrer">漢語多功能字庫</a></li>
<li><a href="https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian" rel="nofollow noreferrer">小學堂字形演變</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
2021-01-31T14:47:58.063Z
2021-02-01T22:27:09.393Z
2021-02-01T22:27:09.393Z
dROOOze
<p>What's the story behind this character 邊? This seems to be another &quot;phonetic-semantic&quot; explanation on this character with 辵 as the semantic and 臱 as the phonetic.
But what exactly is 臱? I have never seen this character in any other character besides 邊. Nose 自, hole 穴, and square 方 doesn't seem to make sense to me if I were to break the components.</p>

<glyph-origin><character-components>
Glyph origin of 邊/边
# Glyph origin of 邊/边

(Asked by: username_0 on 2021-01-31)

What's the story behind this character 邊? This seems to be another "phonetic-semantic" explanation on this character with 辵 as the semantic and 臱 as the phonetic.
But what exactly is 臱? I have never seen this character in any other character besides 邊. Nose 自, hole 穴, and square 方 doesn't seem to make sense to me if I were to break the components.

**Tags:** glyph-origin, character-components


---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2021-01-31. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

| 時期 字體 | 字形 | 參考資料 |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [商](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty) [甲](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script) | [⿱自丙](https://i.sstatic.net/wzz6C.png) | [後](https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference)2.22.16 [合集28058](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&bh=28058&jgwfl=) |
| [西周](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Zhou) [金](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions) | [⿰彳臱](https://i.sstatic.net/rUyY7.png) | [大盂鼎](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Da_Yu_ding) [集成2837](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=2837&jgwfl=) |
| 西周 金 | [邊](https://i.sstatic.net/GPMbW.png) | 散氏盤 [集成10176](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=10176&jgwfl=) |
| [戰國](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period)・[秦](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qin_(state)) 石刻文 | [邊](https://i.sstatic.net/vSsfp.png) | 詛楚文 |
| [楷](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script) | [邊](https://i.sstatic.net/t7G7f.png) |  |

「邊」 ([Baxter-Sagart OC](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reconstructions_of_Old_Chinese#Baxter%E2%80%93Sagart_(2014)): **/\*pˤe[n]/**, *borders* [e.g. of a political territory or geographical region]) was originally constructed from semantic [「自」](https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=436) (*from, beginning of* [a location]) and phonetic [「丙」](https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian?kaiOrder=157) (**/\*praŋʔ/**). To clarify, 「自」 (*from*) is used to indicate that *A political territory starts **from** its **borders***.

> 「自」 indeed was originally a picture of a *nose*. However, very early on, it was used for a word meaning *from* [a location], e.g. [《甲骨文合集》24228](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&bh=24228&jgwfl=):
>
> > [![《甲骨文合集》24228](https://i.sstatic.net/HjrXQ.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/HjrXQ.jpg)
> >
> > 辛酉卜，尹鼎（貞）：＂王步**自**商，亡（無）（災）？＂
> >
> > [Divination](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone#Shang_divination) on the day of [*xīnyǒu*](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%BE%9B%E9%85%89), [Oracle Yǐn](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E8%B4%9E%E4%BA%BA) asked: "The King is to set off **from** [Shāng](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty) territory. This won't be disastrous, right?"

Later on, 「彳」 (*roads*) and/or 「辵・辶」 (*movement along roads*) was added.

> Note that, in older characters, 「彳」, 「止」, and 「辵・辶」 are often interchangeable as semantic components. See e.g. [Glyph origins of '進'](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/34264/glyph-origins-of-%E9%80%B2).

「方」 (**/\*paŋ/**, *direction, side* > [*neighbouring state* 方國](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E6%96%B9%E5%9B%BD)) was also either added to the character or replaces 「丙」 as another phonetic component, and perhaps also acts as a semantic component.

> 「方」 was very early on used to denote neighbouring states to Shāng, e.g. from [《甲骨文合集》6409](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&bh=6409&jgwfl=):
>
> [![《甲骨文合集》6409](https://i.sstatic.net/6q87y.png)](https://i.sstatic.net/6q87y.png)
>
> > 丁酉卜，㱿鼎（貞）：＂今⿱屮口（早）王廾（供）人五千正（征）土方，⿳爫舟又（受）㞢（有）又（祐）?＂
> >
> > Divination on the day of *dīngyǒu*, Oracle Què asked: “This morning, the King gathered five thousand people to go on a military expedition towards the State of Tǔ; will they receive Divine Protection?”

---

Note that 「穴」 is an attempt to capture the shape of 「丙」; there is no functional 「穴」 in the character.

---

**References:**

* 杜忠誥《說文篆文訛形釋例》
* 何琳儀《戰國古文字典：戰國文字聲系》
* [漢語多功能字庫](https://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/)
* [小學堂字形演變](https://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian)
* [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/)


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