割

Phono-semantic compound:

刀 (“knife, blade”) provides the semantic element of cutting.

害 (“harm, injury”) serves as the phonetic component.

Together: “to cut apart, to divide with a knife.”

Semantic range:

- to cut, slice (베다, 자르다);

- to divide, split apart (가르다, 나누다);

- to apportion, distribute (할당하다, 나눠주다);

- by extension: to reduce, cut down (줄이다, 삭감하다).

분할 (分割) — division, partition

할당 (割當) — allotment, assignment

할인 (割引) — discount, price reduction

출혈할인 (出血割引) — “bleeding discount,” extremely heavy discount

割愛 (할애) — to part with reluctantly, to spare or give up something dear

In classical Chinese legal and administrative texts, 割 often appears in contexts of dividing land or territory (割地, 할지, “to cede land”) and can thus imply loss or concession.

In Buddhist texts, 割 sometimes takes on a metaphorical sense of cutting away attachment or desire, similar to “severing bonds” (割愛).

Rarely written with clerical script forms where 害 is stylized.