Why does 熊 have 能 in it?


Why does 熊 have 能 in it? What do the four dots mean, and what is that stroke
called? When I say why does it have it in it, does anyone have either a
linguistic interpretation, or am interpretive definition?




It's clear at least that the 能 portion literally represents a bear.
[ChineseEtymology.org](http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?submitButton1=Etymology&characterInput=%E8%83%BD)
describes it this way:

> Primitive pictograph 能. A bear which is strong with mouth 厶 with meat 月肉 and
> feet 匕匕. Meaning able.

Henshall describes it similarly, giving 厶 instead as nose, 肉 as flesh/of the
body, and 匕匕 as representing claws. It came to represent ability later, either
as a borrowed meaning or in reference to some attributes of a bear (strength,
agility, etc.). But details aside, I think everyone agrees on what 能 literally
represents.

So 熊 contains 能 because it represents a bear.

* * *

As for 灬, those four dots are typically taken as a form of 火 fire, but the
reason for its presence in 熊 is less clear. Every source I've checked explains
it differently. [Zhongwen](http://zhongwen.com/cgi-bin/zipux2.cgi?b5=%BA%B5)
gives it as an abbreviated phonetic (from 炎), while
[ChineseEtymology.org](http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E7%86%8A)
says it comes from a representation of the four feet of the bear. Henshall has
this to say:

> Bear is now conveyed in practice by the [...] character 熊, that adds fire 灬,
> but it should be noted that 熊 technically means raging fire (literally a
> fire as strong and fierce as a bear), a meaning still found by association
> in the lesser meaning of bright/glare that 熊 has in Chinese.

So there you have three different explanations for 灬.




It's clear at least that the 能 portion literally represents a bear.
[ChineseEtymology.org](http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?submitButton1=Etymology&characterInput=%E8%83%BD)
describes it this way:

> Primitive pictograph 能. A bear which is strong with mouth 厶 with meat 月肉 and
> feet 匕匕. Meaning able.

Henshall describes it similarly, giving 厶 instead as nose, 肉 as flesh/of the
body, and 匕匕 as representing claws. It came to represent ability later, either
as a borrowed meaning or in reference to some attributes of a bear (strength,
agility, etc.). But details aside, I think everyone agrees on what 能 literally
represents.

So 熊 contains 能 because it represents a bear.

* * *

As for 灬, those four dots are typically taken as a form of 火 fire, but the
reason for its presence in 熊 is less clear. Every source I've checked explains
it differently. [Zhongwen](http://zhongwen.com/cgi-bin/zipux2.cgi?b5=%BA%B5)
gives it as an abbreviated phonetic (from 炎), while
[ChineseEtymology.org](http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E7%86%8A)
says it comes from a representation of the four feet of the bear. Henshall has
this to say:

> Bear is now conveyed in practice by the [...] character 熊, that adds fire 灬,
> but it should be noted that 熊 technically means raging fire (literally a
> fire as strong and fierce as a bear), a meaning still found by association
> in the lesser meaning of bright/glare that 熊 has in Chinese.

So there you have three different explanations for 灬.

