Dong Chinese dictionary

de, dì

earth

Phonosemantic compound. 土 represents the meaning and 也 represents the sound.

Components

土 Meaning component

tǔ

earth

也 Sound component

yě

also

地 and 也 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.地 /*[l]ˤej-s/
也 /*lAjʔ/

Evolution

Bronze script

Late Warring States (~250 BC)

Seal script

Shuowen (~100 AD)

Clerical script

Eastern Han dynasty (25-220 AD)

Regular script

Modern

Definitions

earth; soil, ground; region; -ly; structural particle: used before a verb or adjective, linking it to preceding modifying adverbial adjunct

dì

ground; field; place; land; CL:片[piàn]

Most common words with 地

Sources