涂鸦
tú​yā

graffiti

涂 tu, tú smear, spread, paint Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound. Simplified form of 塗.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

余
余 Sound component
yú I

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
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
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (1)

塗

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdulˤa path

說文解字

《說文》：“涂，水。出益州牧靡南山，西北入澠。从水，余聲。”

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)

鸦 yā crow Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 鸟 represents the meaning and 牙 represents the sound. Simplified form of 鴉.

Components

鸟
鸟 Meaning component
niǎo bird
牙
牙 Sound component
yá tooth

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

塗 smear, spread, paint Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 涂 represents the sound.

Components

涂
涂 Sound component
tu, tú smear, spread, paint
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

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
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdulˤa to plaster
dulˤa road

說文解字

《說文新附》：“塗，泥也。从土，涂聲。”

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)

鴉 yā crow Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. 鳥 represents the meaning and 牙 represents the sound.

Components

鳥
鳥 Meaning component
niǎo bird
牙
牙 Sound component
yá tooth

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartʔæqˤraraven, crow
Zhengzhangqraː
Unicodeqa

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang