Sea of Tangut Characters @TangutSea
Tweet 1277051141084385282
Sunday, 28 June 2020 at 1:28
𗚪 [¹bi₁] 'to send someone somewhere' or 'to send someone away' is constructed from the top of 𗚛 [²mu₄] 'to move' and the whole of 𗾇 [¹bi₁] 'crazy' (phonetic) {𗚛𗥦𗾇𘓳} babelstone.co.uk/Tangut/WenhaiL…
Sea of Tangut Characters @TangutSea
Tweet 1277052979749715971 (reply to 1277051141084385282)
Sunday, 28 June 2020 at 1:35
The top component 𘡩 is often considered to be the "tree radical" because it frequently occurs in names of trees and related words, but 𗚪 [¹bi₁] 'to send' has no obvious connection with trees. So let's trace where its "tree radical" 𘡩 came from ...
Sea of Tangut Characters @TangutSea
Tweet 1277055238432849922 (reply to 1277052979749715971)
Sunday, 28 June 2020 at 1:44
It turns out that the "tree radical" in 𗚪 'to send' is derived from 𗚐 'willow' via 𗚛 'to move':
𗚪 [¹bi₁] 'to send' < 𗚛 [²mu₄] 'to move' < 𗚐 [¹leq₂] 'willow' + 𗽾 [¹sar'₁] 'to shake'
But the meaning of 𘡩 changes from 'willow' to 'to move' as it is borrowed ...
Sea of Tangut Characters @TangutSea
Tweet 1277055969814601728 (reply to 1277055238432849922)
Sunday, 28 June 2020 at 1:47
... which is why I think that Tangut character formation is fundamentally different to the phonosemantic method that accounts for most Chinese characters.