雜

A phono-semantic compound:

衣 (“clothing”) — semantic element (in the older form 襍).

集 (jip / jí, “to gather”) — phonetic element.

Original form: 襍, composed of 衣 + 集.

Later, the 木 at the lower right was shifted left, and 衣 was simplified, producing the modern form 雜.

Core idea: “to be mixed, to gather various things together.”

雜誌 (잡지) — magazine (lit. “miscellaneous records”)

複雜 (복잡) — complicated, complex

雜貨 (잡화) — sundries, general goods

雜音 (잡음) — noise, mixed sounds

雜交 (잡교) — hybridization, cross-breeding

雜談 (잡담) — casual talk, chit-chat

Korean 잡 reading is almost exclusive to this character, unlike other Sino-Korean morphemes with multiple uses.

In Chinese, 雜 often conveys both neutral “variety” and negative “confusion” depending on context.

Figuratively, 雜 implies heterogeneity — things mixed together without purity or order.