累

Phono-semantic compound:

累 = 糸 (“thread”, semantic) + 畾 (“piled-up fields”, phonetic).

The original, fuller form 纍 shows three 畾 stacked, visually meaning “things piled up, entangled, repeated.”

糸 — semantic element, binding, threading, entangling

畾 / 𤳘 — phonetic + semantic nuance, “piled-up fields,” repetition, accumulation

累 therefore originally meant “entangled, bound, repeated, accumulated.”

Repetition / accumulation:

累計 (누계) — cumulative total

累加 (루가/누가) — to add repeatedly

累年 (루년/누년) — over many years; for years on end

Implication / involvement (주로 문어체):

累及 (누급) — to extend to; to involve

株累 (주루) — implication, entanglement in a crime

牽累 (견루) — to drag someone into trouble

Burden / trouble (문어적):

累贅 (누쩨/누체) — burden, encumbrance

累卵 (누란) — “like stacked eggs,” precarious state

Adjective: repeated, numerous, piled:

累累 (누누) — numerous; continuous; abundant

累積 (누적) — accumulation

Pronunciation in Korean:

루 occurs mostly in Sino-Korean compounds.

누 appears in 일부 숙어 (누적, 누계).

Historically, both readings derive from Middle Chinese 來-type initials.

累 has three distinct Mandarin readings, each with different meanings:

lèi — tired (most common, everyday)

lěi — to accumulate

léi — to implicate

Classical citations:

《詩經·大雅》 (Classic of Poetry – Great Odes)

「民之多辟，方興是懲，懲其不已，反累其身。」

“When people commit many offenses and do not stop, they in turn bring trouble upon themselves.”

累 — to bring harm upon oneself; to involve.

《左傳·宣公十二年》 (Zuo Commentary)

「君子不以言舉人，不以人廢言，惡其累也。」

“A noble man does not recommend a person based on words alone, nor reject words because of the speaker, for fear of becoming entangled.”

累 — to be entangled; troubled.

《史記·楚世家》 (Records of the Grand Historian)

「以一人之身累國。」

“With one man’s actions burdening the entire state.”

累 — to burden; to implicate

《論語·先進》 (Analects 11:3)

「無求備於一人。」朱子註：「不以一人之不備而累其言也。」

“Do not demand perfection from one person.” (Zhu Xi: “Do not let one man’s shortcomings discredit his words.”)

累 — to discredit; to let something be affected by

纍 — original form

The tripled 畾 visually expresses repeated piling, making 纍 more graphically meaningful. Modern writing simplifies it to 累.