what is semantic changes
Semantic change is neither an exact change in meaning, nor does it happen immediately. Instead, it involves the altering, removing and adding on of meanings behind a word by following two generalizations. The first is that meanings trend more toward negative connotations over the positive.
what is etymology
The history of a linguistic form (as a word) shown by tracing its development since its earliest recorded occurrence in the language where it is found, by tracing its transmission from one language to another, by analyzing it into its component parts, by identifying its cognates in other languages, or by tracing it and its cognates to a common ancestral form in an ancestral language
semantic compounds
semantic compounds are constructed by combining two or more components that collectively contribute to the meaning of the new character. Examples are
明 míng, “bright,” is a combination of 日 rì, “sun,” and 月 yuè, “moon.”
信 xìn, “trust,” combines 人 rén, “person,” and 言 yán, “words.”
看 kàn, “look,” has 手 shoˇu, “hand,” over 目 mù, “eye.”
林 lín, “woods,” shows two 木 mù, “tree.”
森 sēn, “forest,” is composed of three 木 mù, “tree.”
囚 qiú, “prison,” is represented by a 人 rén, “person,” in 囗, confinement.
明 míng, “bright,” is a combination of 日 rì, “sun,” and 月 yuè, “moon.”
信 xìn, “trust,” combines 人 rén, “person,” and 言 yán, “words.”
看 kàn, “look,” has 手 shoˇu, “hand,” over 目 mù, “eye.”
林 lín, “woods,” shows two 木 mù, “tree.”
森 sēn, “forest,” is composed of three 木 mù, “tree.”
囚 qiú, “prison,” is represented by a 人 rén, “person,” in 囗, confinement.