发烧
fāshāo · HSK 4
fever
🤒🌡️ 发 (emit) + 烧 (burn) = emit burning heat = fever
发 means to emit or send out; 烧 means to burn or heat up. Together the compound literally says the body is giving off burning heat — a straightforward decomposition for fever or running a temperature.
发 — simplified form of 發; from 癶 (two feet) + 弓 (bow) + 殳 (weapon)
The traditional form 發 depicted shooting an arrow from a bow, with 癶 showing outstretched feet and 弓 the bow, giving the core sense of 'send out, discharge.' From this came extended meanings like 'issue, emit, develop.' The modern simplified 发 also absorbed 髮 (hair), so it now covers both 'to send out' and 'hair.'
烧 — fire radical 火 + 尧 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 火 'fire' gives the meaning 'to burn,' while 尧 (yáo) supplies the sound, shifted to shāo. The right side was simplified from 燒. Core sense 'burn' extended to cooking senses like 'roast' and 'braise.'
fā shāo · HSK 3
to have a fever
🤒🌡️ 发 = emit/send out + 烧 = burn; body sends out burning heat
发 (fā) means to emit or send out; 烧 (shāo) means to burn or heat. Together: the body emits burning heat — a fever. Same 发 as 发现 (discover/send forth) and same 烧 as 烧水 (boil water).
发 — simplified form of 發; from 癶 (two feet) + 弓 (bow) + 殳 (weapon)
The traditional form 發 depicted shooting an arrow from a bow, with 癶 showing outstretched feet and 弓 the bow, giving the core sense of 'send out, discharge.' From this came extended meanings like 'issue, emit, develop.' The modern simplified 发 also absorbed 髮 (hair), so it now covers both 'to send out' and 'hair.'
烧 — fire radical 火 + 尧 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 火 'fire' gives the meaning 'to burn,' while 尧 (yáo) supplies the sound, shifted to shāo. The right side was simplified from 燒. Core sense 'burn' extended to cooking senses like 'roast' and 'braise.'