沟道
gōu​dào

groove

沟 gōu ditch, ravine Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 勾 represents the sound. Simplified form of 溝.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

勾
勾 Sound component
gōu hook

勾 is a component form of 句.

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

道 dào, dao path

Phonosemantic compound. 辶 represents the meaning and 首 represents the sound.

Components

辶
辶 Meaning component
chuò walk

辶 is a component form of 辵.

首
首 Sound component
shǒu head
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Early Western Zhou ~1000 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Western Zhou ~800 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Early Spring and Autumn ~700 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Bronze form
Bronze Late Warring States ~250 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Qin 221-206 BC
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 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

Component uses

Sound (1)

導

Meaning (1)

導

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartdawHlˤuʔ-s show the way
dawX[kə.l]ˤuʔ way

說文解字

所行道也。从辵从𩠐。一達謂之道。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

溝 gōu ditch, ravine Traditional

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

冓
冓 Sound component
gòu, gōu a secluded place

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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkuw[k]ˤ(r)o irrigation canal

說文解字

《說文》：“溝，水瀆，廣四尺，深四尺。从水，冓聲。”

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)