■ radical

shū

book

How it’s built

Simplified form of 書. Phonosemantic compound. 聿 represents the meaning and 者 represents the sound.

聿

meaning

writing utensil

者

sound

-er; [one that...] — The pronunciation of 書 was similar to 者 in old Chinese, but they no longer sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes.

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