堤防
dī​fáng

dike

堤 dī dike

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 是 represents the sound. Simplified form of 隄.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
是
是 Sound component
shì, shi is

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangteː
teːʔ
dje

說文解字

滯也。从土是聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

防 fáng defend

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 方 represents the sound.

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

方
方 Sound component
fāng, fang square

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartbjang[m-p]aŋ dike

說文解字

隄也。从𨸏方聲。

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)