How to Write 嘀 (dī/dí) — Meaning “Beep; tick; drip.”

Imagine a mouth (口) next to a dripping tap that goes 'drip, drip' — the sound is 'dī'. The right side 啇 looks like a combination of 冖 (cover) and 古 (old), so picture an old covered tap making a dripping sound.

The left radical 口 should be small and placed high, about one third the height of the whole character. The right side 啇 has 10 strokes — be careful to write the top dot, then the horizontal stroke, then the cover 冖, and finally 古 below; a common mistake is to confuse it with 商 (shāng) which has a different structure.

㕡 is a very rare character (possibly a variant) and is not used in modern Chinese, while 啻 (chì) means 'only' or 'simply' and is used in classical expressions like 不啻 (not only). Visually, 啻 has 口 on top of 帝 (emperor), whereas 嘀 has 口 next to 啇, and they have completely different meanings and pronunciations.

嘀 appears in common onomatopoeic words like 嘀嗒 (dī dā) for the ticking of a clock or dripping water, and 嘀咕 (dí gū) meaning to mutter or whisper to oneself. It is also used in 嘀的一声 (dí de yī shēng) to describe a short beep, such as from an electronic device.

Common words containing 嘀 include: 嘀咕 (dí gū) — To whisper; to mutter to oneself.; 嘀嗒 (dī dā) — Tick-tock; drip-drop.; 嘀的一声 (dí de yī shēng) — With a beep..