牠 (tā) — it (referring to an animal)

entries → 牠

TSUMUGU · B2 (est.) · 字

牠 character · B2 (est.)

牠＝牛＋也

ㄊㄚ · tā

pronoun — it (referring to an animal)

字源 FORM — what the parts do

牛義an ox, standing for animalsthe animal marker — this is what makes 牠 the animal "it"

也聲yě — gives the soundsound drifted yě → tā — same borrowing as 他、她、它

IFyě → tā — the donor reading shifted far, as in 他、她、它

The 他/她/它 family all take 也 for the sound and swap the left piece to say who: 亻 for a man, 女 for a woman, 宀 for a thing. 牠 swaps in 牛, the ox — the animal marker — so the "it" points at a creature. 也 carries the sound, worn from yě to tā along with the whole family.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

把「它」的寶蓋換成牛（牛）——這個「牠」，指的是動物。

Swap the roof of 它 for the ox (牛) — and this "it" points at an animal.

字源記憶法

意 · Meanings

(本義)牠— it (an animal)常用

→牠們、牠的— they, its (of animals)

(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension