传真
chuánzhēn · HSK 5
fax
📠 传 = transmit + 真 = true/real → transmitting the real thing (fax/portrait)
传 means to pass on or transmit; 真 means true or real. A fax transmits a real, faithful copy of the original — same logic for portraiture, which conveys a true likeness of a person.
传 — person radical 亻 + 专 (zhuān)
Originally a phono-semantic compound: 亻 (person) gives the meaning 'to pass on' between people, while 専/专 supplied the sound. Early uses referred to relay stations and messengers carrying word from place to place, which broadened to today's senses of transmitting, spreading, and handing down (as in tradition or biography).
真 — 匕 (spoon) over 目 (eye) over 八 (eight/base)
真 originally depicted a person or vessel used in ritual, conveying the idea of something genuine or true. Over time the form was reanalyzed as components like 匕, 目, and a base, but the core meaning of 'real, true, genuine' has remained stable since early bronze inscriptions.