chinese characters

地 | Chinese Character for Earth

地 is the character for “earth”. It is made out of 6 strokes.

Chinese CharacterSimplified VersionBopomofoPinyin
ㄉㄧˋ

Definition

Earth; ground; field; place; land

Historical Origins

The Chinese character (dì), meaning “earth” or “ground,” is a phono-semantic compound. It combines two elements: the semantic component 土, which means “earth” and hints at the character’s meaning, and the phonetic component 也, which provides a clue to its pronunciation. In Old Chinese, 地 was likely pronounced l’els, with 也 pronounced laːlʔ, showing a phonetic relationship.

Vocabulary with the Character 地

ChineseBopomofoPinyinEnglish
地方ㄉㄧˋ ㄈㄤdìfāngplace, region
地球ㄉㄧˋ ㄑㄧㄡˊdìqiúEarth (the planet)
地圖ㄉㄧˋ ㄊㄨˊdìtúmap
地鐵ㄉㄧˋ ㄊㄧㄝˇdìtiěsubway, metro
地震ㄉㄧˋ ㄓㄣˋdìzhènearthquake
地勢ㄉㄧˋ ㄕˋdìshìterrain, topography
地板ㄉㄧˋ ㄅㄢˇdìbǎnfloor (surface)

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