考试
kǎoshì · HSK 1
examination
📝 考试 = 考 (test/examine) + 试 (try/attempt)
考 originally depicted an elder and came to mean to examine or investigate. 试 combines 言 (speech) with 式 (form/method), meaning to try out. Together: a formal trial of knowledge.
考 — old 老 (top) + 丂 phonetic
Originally written like 老 ('old'), 考 depicted an elderly person with long hair leaning on a cane, and the two characters were once interchangeable. Over time 考 specialized to mean 'deceased father' and later 'to examine, test, investigate,' with the bottom 丂 hinting at the sound.
试 — speech radical 讠 (言) + 式 shì
试 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The speech radical 讠 (言, 'words/speech') gives the meaning, since testing originally involved questioning or verbal trial. The right side 式 ('pattern, model') supplies the sound shì. Together they suggest 'to try out by a set method,' yielding senses like test, try, attempt.