■ radical

yí

to shift

How it’s built

Phonosemantic compound. 禾 represents the meaning and 多 represents the sound. Alludes to grain moving while it is blown by the wind.

禾

meaning

grain

多

sound

much; many — The pronunciation of 移 was similar to 多 in old Chinese, but they no longer sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes.

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