Dong Chinese dictionary

kè

carve

Phonosemantic compound. 刂 represents the meaning and 亥 represents the sound.

Components

hài

12th terrestrial branch

刻 and 亥 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.刻 /*[kʰ]ˤək/
亥 /*[g]ˤəʔ/

刂 Meaning component

dāo

knife

刂 is a component form of 刀.

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Qin dynasty (221-206 BC)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

kè

carve, engrave; quarter hour; quarter (hour); moment; to carve; to engrave; to cut; oppressive; classifier for short time intervals

Most common words with 刻

Sources