碑
bēi · HSK 7
a monument
🪦 石 stone + 卑 low/humble = a modest stone slab erected as a monument
卑 (bēi) supplies the pronunciation and suggests something low or flat — a slab rather than a tower. The 石 radical confirms it is carved stone. Together: an unassuming tablet that outlasts dynasties.
碑 — stone 石 + low/humble 卑 (phonetic)
碑 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 石 'stone' gives the meaning, while 卑 (bēi) supplies the sound. Originally it referred to upright stones used at graves or palaces to tether animals or mark events; it later came to mean an inscribed stone tablet or monument.