溪壑
xī​hè

valley

溪 xī mountain stream

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 奚 represents the sound. Simplified form of 谿.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

奚
奚 Sound component
xī where? what? how? why?

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Warring States (Chu) 475-221 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Western Jin 266-316 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartkhejkʰˤevalley with stream in it
Zhengzhangkʰeː
Unicodekei

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-SagartZhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

壑 hè, huò bed of torrent

Components

㕡
㕡 SoundIconic component
hé a gully, a pool
土
土 Meaning component
tǔ earth

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartxakqʰˤak moat; canal

說文解字

《說文》：“，溝也。从，从谷。讀若郝。壑，或从土。”

Sources

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