it (pronoun for an animal)

roof (宀) + snake/creature (匕) = that creature over there

The original character depicted a snake sheltering under a roof — a creature living in one's home but kept at arm's length, neither person nor thing. Over time it was repurposed as the neutral third-person pronoun for animals and objects.

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Originally depicted a coiled snakeSemantic
RoofSemantic

Words with 它

其它

qí tā

(adjective) other

吉它

jí tā

a guitar

它们

tā men

they; them

它本身

tā běn shēn

itself

管它

guǎn tā

no matter if

维它命

wéi tā mìng

variant of 維他命|维他命[wei2 ta1 ming4]

More characters with 宀