2007-12-03

Evolution

There's something to be said for the evolution of the written language.

I saw a character 雦 the other day, didn't know what it was. So I asked my coworker and we started doing some research (okay, she searched while I sat next to her), we found the following ensemble:
  • 隹 (zhuī) - kind of bird
  • 雔 (chóu) - pair of birds
  • 雦 (jí/chóu) - to gather; archaic form of 集 (jí)
  • 雥 (zá) - flock of birds
  • 雧 (jí) - to gather (birds in a tree); another archaic form of 集
Isn't that neat?? Two birds? Just double the radical! More than that? Add another bird! And then put them all in a tree (木)!

How clever is that! =)

(Okay, maybe only a language buff like myself would fully appreciate this.)

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