溃坝
kuì​bà

dam-burst

溃 kuì flooding river Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 贵 represents the sound. Simplified form of 潰.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

贵
贵 Sound component
guì expensive

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

坝 bà embankment Simplified

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 贝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 壩.

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth
贝
贝 Sound component
bèi sea shell

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode

潰 kuì flooding river Traditional

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

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

貴
貴 Sound component
guì expensive

Character Evolution

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 Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarthwojH[ɡʷ]ˤ[ə]j-sbreak through an embankment (of water)
Zhengzhangɡluːls

說文解字

漏也。从水貴聲。

Sources

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

壩 bà embankment Traditional

Components

土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

earth

霸
霸 Sound component
bà rule by might rather than right

Historical Pronunciations

Old Chinese
Zhengzhangpraːɡs

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang