Is this discrepancy above due to a calligraphical mistake or lazyness, namely, leaving off that one tick, made a long time ago?
TL;DR: I don't think so, because (1) 尸
used as the pictographic radical with the meaning house
in 屋
was explicitly mentioned in 说文解字 long before, (2) the original meanings of 尸
and 户
used as radicals are not exactly the same (house
vs single door
).
1. About 尸
(and 屋
)
尸
used as the pictograph in 屋
was explicitly mentioned in 说文解字:
居也。从尸。尸,所主也。一曰尸,象屋形。(尸
looks like house.)
会意。从尸,从至。尸,与房屋有关,“至”表示来到。人来到这里居住之意。
This article summarized three usages of 尸
when used as radical.
(italics is translation from me)
A.从原意而来,代表人的躯体。(Derived from the original meaning, represents body of human.)
会意字有:
屍:死去的躯体,就是尸体。屍和尸古来就一直通用。
尿:躯体排出的水分。
屎:米经过躯体排出来的东西。
屄:躯干上的洞。
尾:躯干后面的毛。
等等。
形声字有:
尻,屌,屈,屑,屙,屁
属(声旁是蜀,不是禹),
届(声旁是凷,不是由),含义是到达,比如届时,无远弗届等等。
展,屠,
尼:原意为靠近,后来用昵字代替了本意。至于尼姑的尼,则是梵语比丘尼(bhikṣunī)的音译缩略。
居:原意为蹲下。后来用踞字代替了本意。
等等。
B. 从履字来的,表示各种鞋子的字。履不是人体的部位,但是是服装,所以和尸的原意仍然有关联。(Derived from 履, used to represent various kinds of shoes. 履 is not the part of body, but the clothing, it's still relevant to the original meaning of 尸.)
这类字有:
屐:木鞋
屝:泛指鞋
屜:鞋子里垫的草。
屟(屧):鞋子的木底
屣:鞋子
屦:麻鞋
等等
C.第三类的尸本意不是躯体,而是指房屋。其形状像一面墙壁和屋顶。(The meaning of the 3rd kind of 尸 is not body, but the house. Its shape looks like a wall and the roof.)
这类字有:
屋,
层(層):原意指楼(重屋),引申为重,重复。
屏:原意指影壁墙。
2. About 户
(and 房
)
户
means single leaf door originally, note it's not exactly the same but relevant to house
.
象形。甲骨文字形,象门(門)字的一半。汉字部首之一。从“户”的多与门户有关。本义:单扇门
Here's a picture from the book "字源谈趣" explaining the difference between 门
and 户
, especially their ancient form (left-most one).
Now we could understand the original meaning of 房
, i.e. 正室左右的住室
(wing room/side room (with single door))
上古边室皆用单扇门(即“户”),庙门大门才用双扇门,故“房”从“户”。本义:正室左右的住室
Additional information about 居
居
seems to be the different case with 屋
.
象形。金文字形,是“踞”的本字,象人曲胫蹲踞形。本义:蹲着
居
is the original character of 踞
, means squat
. Then it was used for other meanings, 踞
was created for the using of the meaning squat
. So the usage of 尸
in 居
should be the 1st case shown as before.