<p>The Chinese characters are made with the six basic principles called “六书”.
包括象形、指事、会意、形声、转注、假借。Your questions are related to the 形声，radical and sound principle. For example, 廷 is the sound /ting/. 挺 has a hand radical that means do something with hands. It has the same sound as 廷。</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-23T14:31:42.397Z
2023-12-23T14:31:42.397Z
PdotWang
<p>挺 – ting3 -  pretty/rather
庭 – ting2 – garden/court
Is there any logical explanation of why these characters sound as they sound, and mean as they mean? Their core is similar (廷 – ting2 – mountain/court) but auxiliary radicals are different. Surely enough, there should be some strong and elegant logic rooted there somewhere that makes it clear – why.
Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
Thank you all in advance for your time :)
George</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-23T13:16:31.713Z
On the sound side, first read some introductions like 汉语语音史 by 王力, 音韵学教程 by 唐作藩, 汉语音韵学讲义 by 杨剑桥, then you can read some more serious surveys such as 现代汉语音韵学 by 杨剑桥, 汉语历史音韵学 by 潘悟云, finally you can approach the individual reconstruction theories including A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology by Baxter, Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction by Baxter and Sagart, and 上古音系 by Zhengzhang Shangfang
user2249675
CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-12-23T19:19:28.743Z
Both 挺 and 庭 happen to sound almost the same because they share the same sound component, 廷 (tíng; court).
prismcool
<characters>
why characters sound as they sound and mean as they mean?
# why characters sound as they sound and mean as they mean?

(Asked by: username_0 on 2023-12-23)

挺 – ting3 - pretty/rather
庭 – ting2 – garden/court
Is there any logical explanation of why these characters sound as they sound, and mean as they mean? Their core is similar (廷 – ting2 – mountain/court) but auxiliary radicals are different. Surely enough, there should be some strong and elegant logic rooted there somewhere that makes it clear – why.
Any suggestions would be highly appreciated.
Thank you all in advance for your time :)
username_0

**Tags:** characters

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: On the sound side, first read some introductions like 汉语语音史 by 王力, 音韵学教程 by 唐作藩, 汉语音韵学讲义 by 杨剑桥, then you can read some more serious surveys such as 现代汉语音韵学 by 杨剑桥, 汉语历史音韵学 by 潘悟云, finally you can approach the individual reconstruction theories including A Handbook of Old Chinese Phonology by Baxter, Old Chinese: A New Reconstruction by Baxter and Sagart, and 上古音系 by Zhengzhang Shangfang  
> **username_2**: Both 挺 and 庭 happen to sound almost the same because they share the same sound component, 廷 (tíng; court).  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_3 on 2023-12-23. Score: 2

The Chinese characters are made with the six basic principles called “六书”.
包括象形、指事、会意、形声、转注、假借。Your questions are related to the 形声，radical and sound principle. For example, 廷 is the sound /ting/. 挺 has a hand radical that means do something with hands. It has the same sound as 廷。


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