How to Write 氹 (dàng) — Meaning “Pool; puddle”

Imagine a small puddle of water (the dot) trapped inside a pit or hole (the 凵 shape). The dot is like a raindrop that fell into a hollow on the ground, forming a puddle.

Write the radical 凵 first — a horizontal line, then left and right strokes curving down, then a small dot placed in the center. Make sure the dot does not touch the sides, as if it is floating in the puddle, and avoid making the dot too large.

氹 (puddle) has a dot inside 凵, while 凶 (fierce, ominous) has a cross inside 凵. Also, 凸 is a different radical meaning "convex" or "bulging," with a completely different shape — it bulges outward instead of containing something.

氹 is not common in standard Mandarin but appears in Cantonese as a colloquial character for "puddle" (水氹) and also for the verb "to coax" (氹人). It is rarely used in formal writing; you will mostly see it in place names like 氹仔 in Macau, or in dialectal vocabulary.

Common words containing 氹 include: 水氹 (shuǐ dàng) — Puddle; 泥氹 (ní dàng) — Mud puddle; 氹人 (dàng rén) — To coax or amuse someone (Cantonese).