岛

Étymologie et composants

The Chinese character 岛 (dǎo) for "island" is composed of two parts: the radical 阜 (fù), which means "mound" or "hill", and the phonetic component 道 (dào), which means "path" or "road". The character 岛 originally meant "a small hill in the sea", and it later came to be used to refer to any island.The radical 阜 is a pictograph of a mound or hill. It is one of the most common radicals in Chinese characters, and it is used in many characters related to land and geography, such as 山 (shān, "mountain"), 丘 (qiū, "hill"), and 陵 (líng, "mausoleum").The phonetic component 道 is a pictograph of a path or road. It is also a very common radical in Chinese characters, and it is used in many characters related to movement and direction, such as 行 (xíng, "to go"), 走 (zǒu, "to walk"), and 来 (lái, "to come").The combination of the radical 阜 and the phonetic component 道 creates the character 岛, which originally meant "a small hill in the sea". Over time, the meaning of 岛 expanded to include any island, regardless of its size or location.The character 岛 is a good example of how Chinese characters are often composed of multiple components, each with its own meaning. By understanding the etymology of Chinese characters, we can gain a deeper understanding of their meaning and usage.