除掉
chú​diào

eliminate

除 chú eliminate

Original meaning: stair steps

Phonosemantic compound. 阝 represents the meaning and 余 represents the sound. Based on the original meaning "stair steps". The meaning later shifted to "divide", "remove", and "except".

Components

阝
阝 Meaning component
fù hill, place

阝 is a component form of 阜.

Change in meaning
阝 hints at the original meaning of 除, "stair steps", which is no longer the most common meaning of 除 in modern Mandarin.
余
余 Sound component
yú I
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Qin 221-206 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
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 Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Component uses

Sound (0 of 1 verified)

滁

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartdrjo[l]<r>a remove; get rid of
drjoHlra-s pass away

說文解字

殿陛也。从𨸏余聲。

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Baxter-Sagart
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)

掉 diào fall, drop

Phonosemantic compound. 扌 represents the meaning and 卓 represents the sound.

Components

扌
扌 Meaning component
shou, shǒu hand

扌 is a component form of 手.

卓
卓 Sound component
zhuó, zhuō profound
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangdeːwʔ
deːwɢs
rneːwɢ
Unicodedhèu

說文解字

《說文》：“掉，搖也。从手，卓聲。《春秋傳》曰：‘尾大不掉。’”

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)