Definitions
(third-person pronoun for God in the Christian Bible); (third-person pronoun for divine beings in fiction)
Etymology
About
The character 祂 (tā) is a modern phono-semantic compound, intentionally created by combining the divine radical 示 (shì) with the phonetic component 也 (yě). Coined by Bible translators, it provides a distinct third-person pronoun for referring exclusively to a monotheistic God or deity, differentiating it from standard human pronouns. Before its invention, writers relied on generic pronouns or honorific titles, but the inclusion of the spirit radical now offers a clear visual marker of divinity within religious texts. Its usage remains confined to theological contexts, functioning as a specialized orthographic tool rather than an evolution of an ancient classical character.