他娘的

他 tā he

Phonosemantic compound. 亻 represents the meaning and 也 represents the sound.

Components

亻
亻 Meaning component
rén person

亻 is a component form of 人.

也
也 Sound component
yě also
Change in sound

Character Evolution

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

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagartthal̥ˤaj (E dialect: *l̥ˤ- > MC th-) another

Sources

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

娘 niang, niáng mother

Phonosemantic compound. 女 represents the meaning and 良 represents the sound. Simplified form of 孃.

Components

女
女 Meaning component
nǚ, nü woman
良
良 Sound component
liáng good

Character Evolution

Oracle form
Oracle Bone ~1250-1000 BC
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangnaŋ
Unicodeniɑng

Sources

Character origin
漢語多功能字庫
Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica

的 de, dì, dí [possessive]

Original meaning: bright

Phonosemantic compound. 白 represents the meaning and 勺 represents the sound. The character is based on the original meaning "bright".

Components

白
白 Meaning component
bái, bai white
Change in meaning
白 hints at the original meaning of 的, "bright", which is no longer the most common meaning of 的 in modern Mandarin.
勺
勺 Sound component
sháo, shuò, zhuó spoon
Change in sound

Character Evolution

Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Eastern Han 25-220 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld ChineseGloss
Baxter-Sagarttek[t-l]ˤewk bright; mark in a target

說文解字

《說文》：“旳，明也。从日，勺聲。《易》曰：‘為的顙。’”

Sources

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