底
そこ · soko · JLPT N3 · noun
bottom
🧦🦶 soko sounds like sock-o: a sock covers the sole, the bottom of your foot
Kanji breakdown: 广 (roof, building) + 氐 (base, root, low), so it means the base under the roof, the very bottom. Read alone it's そこ, but in compounds it's てい, as in 海底 (kaitei, sea floor).
底 — 广 (shelter radical) + 氐 (phonetic 'dǐ')
底 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 广 radical depicts a roofed structure or shelter, suggesting the bottom or base of a building. The component 氐 supplies the sound 'dǐ' and originally meant 'low' or 'base,' reinforcing the meaning. Together they convey 'bottom,' 'foundation,' or 'underneath.'