緖

It is a phono-semantic compound, composed of:

糸 (silk, thread) – semantic element, symbolizing threads, beginnings, or connections;

者 (ja/se, “person, thing”) – phonetic element.

Thus, the character conveys the image of a thread’s starting point or lead, extended metaphorically to mean “clue, origin, beginning, or sentiment.”

緖 originated from the image of a thread’s beginning point, and broadened in meaning to denote clues, origins, and even emotional threads (sentiments).

단서 (端緖) – clue, lead, starting point

시초 (始初/始緖) – beginning, origin

연서 (緣緖) – ties, connections (literary)

서정 (緖情) – sentiment, feelings (classical)

Note: Unicode distinguishes between 緒 (U+7DD2, without dot in 者) and 緖 (U+7DD6, with dot in 者), though historically these are graphic variants of the same character. The dot vs. no-dot distinction in 者 is a matter of script tradition, but semantically the characters are equivalent.