What is the history of the character “耻”?

Question

The meaning of the word is “shame”. I often encounter the version which is written with a 止, but sometimes I confuse it with 恥. It seems that the meanings of 耻 and 恥 are both the same, just that one is a simplified character and the other, traditional.

How did two versions of the same word come about, and why would one be considered “simplified”, given that the number of strokes are similar?

Answer 1

戰國・楚
簡

緇衣.28
郭店楚簡
篆

心部
說文解字東漢
隸

樊敏碑
　今
楷


　

「恥」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*n̥rəʔ/, humiliation/shame) is comprised of semantic 「心」 (heart, mind) and phonetic 「耳」 (/*C.nəʔ/).

During times when clerical script was in active use, the 「心」 portion of the character was sometimes corrupted into an additional sound hint 「止」 (/*təʔ/). This produces the variant 「耻」, which is the target of PRC's standardisation scheme.

東漢
隸

樊敏碑
　東漢
隸

孔宙碑
　東漢
隸

池陽令
　今
楷


　

Answer 2

恥 (u+6065) should be treated as the authentic one.

in 說文解字，”恥” was explained as “辱也。从心，耳聲。“, which implied the radical is “心”, the phonetic hint is “耳“

since the 康熙字典，恥 is belonged to the radical 心 (61)

however, the simplification in “that area” chose 耻 (u+803b), which is belonged to the radical 耳 (128).

[rant]

• shame (恥) is a feeling, that the character has the radical 心 (radical 61) is more appropriate
• 耻 (u+803b) has the radical 耳 (radical 128), it departs from the tradition severely.

[/rant]