涓滴
juān​dī

small amount

涓 juān, yuàn, xuàn brook

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

water

肙
肙 Sound component
yuàn, yuān to be satiated

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
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 Chinese
Zhengzhangkʷeːn
Unicodeguen

說文解字

小流也。从水肙聲。《爾雅》曰：“汝爲涓。”

Sources

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

滴 dī drip

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

water

啇
啇 Sound component
dì, shì, zhāi stalk, stem, root

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangteːɡ
Unicodedek

說文解字

《說文》：“滴，水注也。从水，啻聲。”

Sources

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