kě, kè
able to
Original meaning:
sing
Phonosemantic compound. 口 represents the meaning and the right component, which is a pictograph of an axe handle (now written as 柯), represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "sing", now written as 歌. The current meaning "able to" is a phonetic loan.
Components
Evolution

Oracle script
(~1250-1000 BC)
Bronze script
Late Western Zhou (~800 BC)
Seal script
Shuowen (~100 AD)
Clerical script
Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)Regular script
ModernDefinitions
Component uses
Meaning component in 1 character (0 verified)
Sources