The Chinese character 溪 (xī), meaning "stream" or "brook," is a
pictophonetic character (形声字).
This means it is composed of two primary parts: one that suggests
the meaning (the radical) and another that
suggests the sound.
On the left is the water radical. Its presence immediately tells us
that the character's meaning is related to water, liquid, or a body
of water. It categorizes 溪 as a word related to a water feature,
like a creek or small river.
奚 is an ancient character that can mean "why," "how," or refer to a
slave. However, in 溪, its primary role is not
semantic. Function: It provides the pronunciation
clue. The character 奚 is pronounced xī, which is the exact same
pronunciation as the full character 溪 (xī).
The Story of 奚
In Oracle Bone Script, 奚 was a 会意字 (huìyìzì - ideogram). It depicted
a hand (爫) holding a rope (幺) leading to a person (大), symbolizing
a captured slave or prisoner.