dī​diǎn

dropping point

drip

Phonosemantic compound. represents the sound and represents the meaning.

Components

Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

water

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

diǎn dot Simplified

Simplified form of . Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Sound component
zhàn divine
Change in sound
biāo, huǒ fire

Simplified from the (black) component in the traditional character .

Historical Pronunciations

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode

diǎn dot Traditional

Phonosemantic compound. represents the meaning and represents the sound.

Components

Meaning component
hēi black
Sound component
zhàn divine
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-SagarttemXtˤemʔ black spot

說文解字

《說文》:“點,小黑也。从黑,占聲。”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica