岛屿
dǎoyǔ · HSK 7
island
🏝️ dǎoyǔ: 岛 = mountain over bird (land where seabirds perch) + 屿 = mountain radical isle
岛 is a bird (鸟) beneath a mountain peak — land rising from the sea where birds roost. 屿 adds the mountain radical 山 to reinforce 'rocky islet.' Together they mean islands of any size.
岛 — mountain 山 + bird 鸟 (phonetic)
Originally written 嶹 or 㠀, depicting a bird (鸟) resting on a mountain (山) in the sea. The character is a semantic-phonetic compound: 山 gives the meaning 'mountain/land,' while 鸟 (bird) hints at the sound. It captures the image of an island as a small mountain where seabirds land.