奶油 Origin — Dong Chinese Dictionary

nǎiyóu

cream

nǎi, nai milk

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 乃 represents the sound.

女 Meaning component

nǚ, nü woman

nǎi then

Depicts a woman standing sideways with her breasts protruding.

	Old Chinese
Zhengzhang	rneːlʔ

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 由 represents the sound.

氵 Meaning component

shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

由 Sound component

yóu cause

Regular Modern

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	Middle Chinese	Old Chinese	Gloss
Baxter-Sagart	yuw	[l][u]	flow(ing)

《說文》：“油，水。出武陵孱陵西，東南〔北〕入江。从水，由聲。”