Read Edit View history 坝 bà HSK7 embankment Origin Definitions Defs Strokes Stroke Words Sentences Sents Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 贝 represents the sound. Simplified form of 壩. Components 土 土 Meaning component tǔ earth 贝 贝 Sound component bèi sea shell Sources Readings & variants Unicode 壩 bà embankment Traditional Components 土 土 Meaning component tǔ earth earth 霸 霸 Sound component bà rule by might rather than right Historical Pronunciations Old ChineseZhengzhangpraːɡs Sources Readings & variants Unicode Historical pronunciations Zhengzhang Shangfang 垻 bà, bèi an embankment Traditional Historical Pronunciations Old ChineseZhengzhangpraːs Sources Readings & variants Unicode Historical pronunciations Zhengzhang Shangfang