給 - Dong Chinese dictionary

gěi, jǐ

give

Phonosemantic compound. 糹 represents the meaning and 合 represents the sound.

Components

糹 Meaning component

sī, mì

silk

Silk is a precious material.

合 Sound component

hé, gě

to join

給 and 合 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.給 /*[k](r)[ə]p/
合 /*kˤop/, /*m-kˤop/

Evolution

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

给 (給)

gěi

give; by, for; to; for; for the benefit of; to give; to allow; to do sth (for sb); (grammatical equivalent of 被); (grammatical equivalent of 把); (sentence intensifier)

给 (給)

jǐ

to supply; to provide

Most common words with 給