cái​dá

reply

cái cut out

To cut  cloth 

Components

𢦏
𢦏 SoundMeaning component
zāi to cut
Meaning component
clothes

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdzoj[dz]ˤə cut out clothes

說文解字

《說文》:“裁,制衣也。从衣,聲。”

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica

dá, dā answer

Original meaning: small bean

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "small bean". The current meaning is a phonetic loan.

Components

Meaning component
zhú bamboo

⺮ is a component form of .

Change in meaning
hints at the original meaning of , "small bean", which is no longer the most common meaning of in modern Mandarin.
Sound component
to join
Change in sound

Component uses

Meaning (0 of 1 verified)

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttop[t]ˤ[u]p answer

Sources

Character origin
季旭昇《說文新證》p.68
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart