■ radical

wài

out

How it’s built

Phonosemantic compound. 卜 represents the meaning and 月 represents the sound. 卜 here is used iconically as an arrow pointing to the outside.

卜

meaning

to divine

月

sound

moon — The pronunciation of 外 was similar to 月 in old Chinese, but they no longer sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes.

Through the ages

Bronze script