47039
I've been looking all over for the response but in 夢(dream) what does the
bottom part right below the three little squares mean or say??
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2017-05-03T05:37:12.143
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2019-10-14T00:13:17.507
2019-10-14T00:13:17.507
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question
kanji
What does the bottom part of 夢 mean, right under the 3 squares?
* [This page](http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E5%A4%A2) says it's a bed or a sleeping person.
  * [This page](http://www.slownet.ne.jp/sns/area/culture/reading/kodai/201002031622-2000001.html) says it's a 被せ物 (cover, veil).

As for the uppermost part (⺾), some say [it's
grass](https://okjiten.jp/kanji172.html#a), some say [it's horns of a
sheep](http://www.slownet.ne.jp/sns/area/culture/reading/kodai/201002031622-2000001.html),
some say [it's
eyelash](http://lcprichi.hkbu.edu.hk/search/show_word.php?id=568). The pages
I've seen so far consistently say that the "squares" (⺫) part refers to 目
(eye).

It's often very difficult or impossible to determine the etymology of each
kanji. We have [the shapes of some old variants of this
kanji](http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E5%A4%A2),
but people today can only speculate it's meaning.
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2017-05-03T08:06:25.217
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2017-05-03T08:06:25.217
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answer
「夢{む}」(Baxter-Sagart OC: **/*C.məŋ-s/** ) is decomposed into semantic「夕」(
_evening_ ). The other part of the character is a phonetic hint.

> The other part of the character is
>
> `[![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5bSN6.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5bSN6.png)`
>
> with slightly altered strokes (such that the bottom appears as「冖」). The
> functionality of this part derives from a graphically reduced form
> of「蔑{めち}」( **/*mˤet/** ). To see the graphical connection, remove「戈」from「蔑」.
>
> This part is a depiction of a person「儿・人」with their head ( _eyes_ 「目」and
> _eyebrows_ 「卝」) exaggerated. It (and by extension「夢」) does not contain
> _grass_ 「⺾」or _cover_ 「冖」, which are graphical coincidences in the modern
> Japanese form.
>
> 「{{zh-HK:夢}}」normally appears with「卝」in Traditional Chinese, not「⺾」.

* * *

For reference, character evolution sequence:

  * Obsolete shape:

`[商](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shang_dynasty)  
[甲](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oracle_bone_script)  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/v2qUu.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/v2qUu.png)  
[甲](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/yanbian/Reference/JiaguwenReference)・690  
[合集32212](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/?bhfl=1&bh=32212&jgwfl=)``  
[隸定](https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/%E9%9A%B6%E5%AE%9A)  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/U7iCj.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/U7iCj.png)  
  
`

The character on the left is, component-wise, equivalent to the character on
the right minus「宀」and「夕」. The left-hand-side component,「爿{しょう}」, is a picture
of a bed, and this word is now written as「床{しょう}」. The whole character is a
picture of a person with an exaggerated head sleeping on a bed.

  * Modern character:

`[戰國](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warring_States_period)・[晉](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_\(Chinese_state\))  
兵器文字  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PElu6.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/PElu6.png)  
卅四年頓丘命戈  
``戰國・[楚](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_\(state\))  
[簡](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bamboo_and_wooden_slips)・[帛](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chu_Silk_Manuscript)  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5SSJL.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/5SSJL.png)  
甲篇・1.69  
長沙子彈庫楚帛書``今  
[楷](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script)  
[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NoNQv.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/NoNQv.png)  
  
`

* * *

**References:**

  * 季旭昇《說文新證》
  * [小學堂](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/)
  * [國學大師](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/)
    * [郭沫若《甲骨文合集》](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/jgwhj/)
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2019-10-13T23:41:32.507
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2019-10-13T23:41:32.507
2020-06-17T08:18:27.500
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answer