喪

Phono-semantic compound (later evolved with semantic additions):

桑 (뽕나무 상, “mulberry”) — provides sound.

口 (입 구, “mouth”) — depicts multiple mouths between mulberry branches, possibly representing wailing/grief.

Later, in bronze inscriptions, 亡 (망할 망, “perish”) was added below, reinforcing the semantic field of loss and death.

In small seal script, 桑 was deformed into a 犬-like shape; in clerical script the form became compressed, stabilizing into the modern 喪.

Thus the character originally carried both phonetic value (桑) and the semantic sense of “mourning, loss.”

喪禮 (상례) — funeral rites

喪失 (상실) — loss

喪家 (상가) — bereaved family

服喪 (복상) — to wear mourning clothes

喪亡 (상망) — to perish

A polyphonic character:

평성 (level tone) — “mourning, funeral.”

거성 (departing tone) — “to lose, to die.”

In modern Chinese: consistently sàng (mourning, to lose).

In Korean: always 상.

𬀷 (shares readings with 傷, 喪, 壯).