土

tǔ = tu + Ø3

Tu (ethnic group) / surname Tu

tǔ = tu + Ø3

earth / dust / clay / local / indigenous / crude opium / unsophisticated / one of the eight categories of ancient musical instruments 八音[ba1 yin1]

土 = 十 + 一 : Tommy Turtle (tu) wants to fix a cross (十) on a flute (一) in the space station's living room (Ø3). He uses dust and clay (土) to hold them together.

土 character breakdown

土
- 一
- 十
  - 一
  - 丨

一

yi̅ = y + Ø1

one / single / a (article) / as soon as / entire; whole; all; throughout / "one" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 1) / also pr. [yao1] for greater clarity when spelling out numbers digit by digit

Maud Younger (y) forgot her keys to the space station (Ø1), all she brought outside was her flute (一). She has no choice but to crash the door with the giant flute.

十

shí = sh + Ø2

ten / 10

十 = 一 + 丨 : Mnemonic symbol: a holy cross. Sherlock Holmes (sh-) is investigating a very strange thing he found in the kitchen of the space station (-2): A big pyramid made of ten (十) crosses (十), which are in turn made out of flutes (一) and dinosaur bones (丨).

Characters with 土 as component

填

tián = ti + an2

to fill or stuff / (of a form etc) to fill in

填 = 土 + 真 : Mother Teresa (ti) is fed up with the lack of earth (土) on this planet. In the anthill's kitchen (an2) she is filling (填) earth (土) into a replicator (真) to accumulate earth until there is enough for everyone.

肚

dù = du + Ø4

belly

肚 = 土 + 月 : The moon (月) made tripe out of doggy dog (du) and now his belly (肚) hurts. He has to spend the rest of the day in the space station's bathroom (Ø4) pulling a heap of dirt (土) out of his belly.

肚

dǔ = du + Ø3

tripe

周

zho̅u = zh + ou1

to make a circuit / to circle / circle / circumference / lap / cycle / complete / all / all over / thorough / to help financially

周 = ⺆ + 土 + 口 : Mnemonic symbol: a hula hoop. James II of England (zh) performs in front of the outhouse (ou1): he swings a hula hoop (周), juggles three mandarins (口) and balances a small heap of dirt (土) on his head. He cheated a little bit though, because he stapled the heap of dirt to his wig with a stapler (⺆).

周

zho̅u = zh + ou1

surname Zhou / Zhou Dynasty (1046-256 BC)

周

週

zho̅u = zh + ou1

week / weekly / variant of 周[zhou1]

坝

壩

bà = b + a4

dam / dike / embankment / CL:條|条[tiao2]

坝 = 土 + 贝 : The crab (贝) wants to use the ashram's bathroom (a4), but Beelzebub (b) built a dike (坝) made out of dirt (土) and the crab is unable to overcome the dike.

坝

壩

bà = b + a4

dam / dike; embankment / CL:條|条[tiao2]

在

zài = z + ai4

to exist; to be alive / (of sb or sth) to be (located) at / (used before a verb to indicate an action in progress)

在 = 一 + 亻 + 土 : Zorro (z) and Rosa Luxemburg (亻) exist (在) in the airplane's bathroom (ai4). Rosa is in the middle of balancing a flute (一) on her head and on a pile of clay (土). Zorro uses his rapier to inscribe "Z" into the flute, so as to mark that the pronunciation of "在" begins with "z".

堡

bǎo = b + ao3

an earthwork / castle / position of defense / stronghold / used in place names, often as phonetic bao for "burg" or "bad"

堡 = 保 + 土 : Beelzebub (b) created a new olace for his valuables. Inside of the aorta (ao3) he built a sand castle (堡). In the center of the castle (堡) there is a heap of clay (土) on which a safe (保) is resting.

堡

pù = pu + Ø4

variant of 鋪|铺[pu4] / used in place names

堤

di̅ = di + Ø1

dike / Taiwan pr. [ti2]

堤 = 土 + 是 : Dorothy Gale (di) is using the skulls (是) of her former enemies to build a dike (堤) around the space station (Ø1). To make the dike less daunting she adds a final layer of ordinary dirt (土).