请勿 (qǐng wù) — please do not (written prohibition on signs and notices)

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 請; 请 is its simplified writing.

In the traditional form 請, 言 shows it relates to speaking, and 青 gives the sound; the simplified 请 is a later shorter form.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

假借jiǎjièLater borrowed for its sound alone — the picture has nothing to do with today’s meaning.

The shape first showed blood on a knife, for cutting. It was borrowed for its sound to write 勿 “do not,” so the picture and that meaning are unrelated.