查

Phono-semantic compound:

木 (나무 목, “wood”) — semantic, representing a wooden object.

且 (또 차, “moreover; and”) — phonetic, providing the sound 사.

Originally, 査 referred to a wooden raft or logs bound together, much like 槎 (떼 사) or 楂 (뗏목 사). Over time, through phonetic borrowing, the meaning shifted from a physical raft to the abstract sense of investigation or checking, as if “examining piece by piece.”

조사(調査) — investigation, inquiry

검사(檢査) — inspection, examination

감사(監査) — audit, oversight

In ancient texts, 査 often denoted rafts or wooden structures used for crossing rivers.

Semantic shift: By the Han dynasty, it was increasingly used in administrative and judicial contexts, e.g., to “inspect” or “check documents.”

Kangxi Dictionary (《康熙字典》) lists the variant form with 旦 (아침 단) in place of 且 — i.e., 查, which later became the standard form in modern Chinese.

Thus, in Mainland China and Taiwan, 查 is the normalized character for “investigate,” while 査 is treated as an older or variant form still preserved in Japan and Korea.

查 (단형자) — modern standard form (simplified/variant).

槎, 楂 — originally shared the meaning “raft,” from the same etymological root.