坨

tuó

土 + 它

Definitions

tuó mound; heap; lump; classifier for small mounds (e.g. animal scat deposits); (of noodles, jiaozi 餃子|饺子[jiǎo zi] etc) to stick together; to form a clump

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 它 represents the sound.

Semantic: 土 Phonetic: 它

About

坨 (tuó) is a phonosemantic compound: the radical 土 (tǔ) on the left provides the meaning of earth, soil, or ground, while the component 它 (tā) on the right indicates the sound. The character denotes a lump, mound, or small heap of earth or other clumped substances, and commonly functions as a measure word for lump-like objects such as dough or soil. Its use has also broadened slightly in vernacular settings to quantify various clustered or grouped items, always grounded in the earthy sense of its radical.