Relationship between 屋, 室 and 至


Is it a coincidence that element 至 is in both 屋 and 室? How is 至 related to the
concept of "room" or "house"?




  * 「室」means _room_ , containing semantic「宀」( _picture of a building_ ).
  * 「至」(Baxter-Sagart OC: **/*ti[t]-s/** ) is a phonetic component in「室」(Baxter-Sagart OC: **/*s.ti[t]/** ).
  * 「屋」(generically meaning _building_ ) contains an abbreviated「室」in the shape of「至」as a semantic component. We can view this as the structure of「尸」taking place of the structure of「宀」in「室」. 
    * Several other parts of「屋」got corrupted or omitted as well;「尸」( _squatting person_ > _body_ ) is not the original shape in「屋」.

> The original shape of「屋」did not contain「至」, as part of other
> characters.「屋」was a picture of a tent, and this word is now written as「幄」.
>
> # `  
> [篆](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Small_seal_script)  
> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hrBcT.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/hrBcT.png)  
> 說文古文「屋」  
>  ``  
> 篆  
> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sOiaA.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sOiaA.png)  
> [說文解字](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuowen_Jiezi)「至」  
>  `
>
> The tent shape was subject to gradual corruption into「尸」:
>
> # `[西周](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Zhou)  
> [金](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_bronze_inscriptions)ㆍ隸定  
> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/4zXG0.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/4zXG0.png)[![enter
> image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2PjKC.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2PjKC.png)  
> 訓匜  
> [集成10285](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/yzjwjc/?bh=10285)``  
> 篆  
> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UbCfT.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UbCfT.png)  
> 說文[籀文](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shizhoupian)「屋」  
>  ``現代  
> [楷](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regular_script)  
> [![enter image description
> here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2xEkk.png)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/2xEkk.png)  
> 「屋」  
>  `

* * *

**References:**

  * 季旭昇《說文新證》
  * [小學堂](http://xiaoxue.iis.sinica.edu.tw/)
  * [國學大師](http://www.guoxuedashi.com/)




Below I cut and paste 3 different pages of info from
[okjiten.jp](https://okjiten.jp) so that you can see them all together. 「至」is
a representation of an arrow which flown and landed head down in the ground.
For「屋」and 「室」, imagine a person launched from a bow and falling head first
through the roof into their home. Makes sense, right?

**至**

  * 指事文字です。「矢が地面につきささった」象形から、「いたる」を意味する「至」という漢字が成り立ちました。 
    * <https://okjiten.jp/kanji975.html>

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l4Vpn.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/l4Vpn.gif)

**屋**

  * 会意文字です(尸+至)。「屋根」の象形(「家屋」の意味)と「矢が地面に突き刺さった」象形(「至(いた)る」の意味)から、人がいたる「いえ・すみか」を意味する「屋」という漢字が成り立ちました。 
    * <https://okjiten.jp/kanji464.html>

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ecpvJ.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ecpvJ.gif)

**室**

  * 会意兼形声文字です(宀+至)。「屋根・家屋」の象形と「矢が地面につきささった」象形(「至る」の意味)から人が留まる「へや」を意味する「室」という漢字が成り立ちました。 
    * <https://okjiten.jp/kanji268.html>

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yx36X.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Yx36X.gif)

