触犯
chù fàn · HSK 7
to offend
👆⚠️ chù fàn = touch + violate — to touch a boundary is to offend
触 means touch or contact, 犯 means to violate or commit. When you touch something forbidden, you offend or transgress. The word captures crossing a line you shouldn't have crossed.
犯 — dog radical 犭 + 㔾 (kneeling person)
Originally a semantic-phonetic compound: the dog radical 犭 suggested an animal attacking, while 㔾 (a kneeling figure) hinted at the sound and the idea of submission or transgression. The meaning broadened from 'a beast attacking a person' to 'to violate, offend, commit (a crime),' giving modern senses like 'criminal' and 'to infringe.'