泥胎
ní​tāi

clay idol

泥 ní mud

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

尼
尼 Sound component
ní, nǐ Buddhist nun

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagartnejC.nˤ[əj]mud
nejHnˤər(ʔ)-simpeded, obstructed (Lunyu)
Zhengzhangniːl
niːls
Unicodenei
nèi

說文解字

水。出北地郁郅北蠻中。从水尼聲。

Sources

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

胎 tāi unborn child

Phonosemantic compound. ⺼ represents the meaning and 台 represents the sound.

Components

⺼
⺼ Meaning component
ròu meat, flesh

⺼ is a component form of 肉.

台
台 Sound component
tái platform

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthojl̥ˤə fetus

說文解字

《說文》：“胎，婦孕三月也。从肉，台聲。”

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)