泥
どろ · doro · JLPT N3 · noun
mud
🟤💧 泥 = 氵 water + 尼; doro: mud at the DOoR, Oh no!
The left side 氵 is the water radical, since mud is wet earth. 尼 on the right gives the Chinese reading (ni) and doesn't add meaning. For どろ, use the sound-alike: someone walks mud in through the door, oh no — door-oh, doro.
泥 — water radical 氵 + 尼 (phonetic)
泥 is a phono-semantic compound. The water radical 氵 indicates a connection to water or wetness, while 尼 (ní) supplies the pronunciation. Together they denote 'mud'—earth mixed with water—and by extension soft, sticky substances like plaster or paste.