「地」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*[l]ˤej-s/, ground) is comprised of semantic 「土」 (picture of a lump of dirt) and phonetic 「也」 (/*lAjʔ/). This structure is found relatively late, derived from a graphical corruption of Qín Dynasty forms which used the highly similar sound component 「它」 (/*l̥ˤaj/).
秦
簡
封診式65
睡虎地秦簡西漢
隸
相馬經20下
馬王堆帛書
隸定
篆
土部
說文解字東漢
隸
白石神君碑
楷
Note carefully that the forms above are strictly to be interpreted as 「地」, not what we now read as 「坨」, which is a different character (i.e. represents a different word).
The reproduction of that table on Wiktionary is as follows, with component-wise regular script transcription:
This is the shape that the Shuōwén's Shizhoupian script refers to. It is an old form of 「地」 only in the sense that Shuōwén considers it to be so; when reading the actual inscription that this character is found on, the word or morpheme that it represents is now written as 「施」 (Mandarin Pinyin: yì, to reach, to extend). From the Late Western Zhou inscription 㝬簋《殷周金文集成》4317:
王曰：「有余隹（雖）小子，余亡㝩（康）晝夜，巠（經）【⿻𩀢攴】（雝）先王，用配皇天。簧（黃＞光）黹朕心，墬（施）于亖（四）方。【⿰㣇聿】（肆）余㠯（以）【⿰食⿱匕矢】（義）士獻民，爯盩（調）先王宗室。」
。。。。。。
The king said: "Even though I am but a lowly fellow, I tirelessly uphold the principles of the former sovereigns from dawn till dusk, in accordance with the will of Heaven. Heaven fills my heart with glory, and its light extends everywhere, far and wide. Thus, I work with my virtuous men to harmoniously bring about the establishments of my royal ancestors."
...
Then, even if we do consider this character to be a variation on 「地」, it is still strictly a rebus borrowing in this occurrence. 「彖」 (/*l̥ˤo[r]-s/) here possibly acts directly as a phonetic hint, or may be a glyph derivative of 「豕」 (/*l̥ajʔ/) as the original phonetic hint.
Characters in this series were prolific in the late Spring and Autumn and during the Warring States period. For example,
- 戰國・晉
玉片
侯馬盟書
隸定
- 戰國・齊
陶文
3.641
古陶文彙編
隸定
- 戰國・楚
簡
忠信之道5
郭店竹簡
隸定
The key components here are semantic 「阜・𨸏・阝」 (picture of a row of hills) and phonetic 「豕」 (/*l̥ajʔ/). An additional semantic 「土」 eventually was added permanently, but other components like 「又」, 「止」, etc. were non crucial and didn't stick around.
Unlike 「墬」, characters in this series could be concretely read as 「地」 (ground, earth). From the Warring States inscription 𧊒壺《殷周金文集成》9734:
。。。。。。
先王之㥁（德），弗可【⿺辵⿱复口】（復）【⿱目又】（得）。【⿱雨𣏟】二（潸潸）流【⿱雨⿰米弟】（涕），不𢽤（敢）寧處。敬命新【⿻𡏇又】（地），雨（𩁹）祠先王，【⿰歺𠀍】（世）二母（毋）【⿰立⿱山㔾】（犯），㠯追庸先王之工（功）剌（烈）。子二孫二，母又（有）不敬，惥（寅）𤲥（祗）承祀。
...
The virtues of the former sovereigns cannot be regotten; tearfully, I am fearful of residing peacefully. In our new lands, performing the rites to the royal ancestors, generations upon generations without fail, we pursue the achievements of the former sovereigns. My sons and grandsons are to be without irreverence, and to carry on and uphold the rites with veneration.
This series of characters uses the alternative sound component 「它」 (/*l̥ˤaj/), and was also frequently found with the omission of 「阜・𨸏・阝」.
戰國・楚
簡
149
包山竹簡秦
簡
封診式65
睡虎地秦簡西漢
隸
相馬經20下
馬王堆帛書
隸定
As mentioned at the beginning, the ancestor of the modern 「地」 is from graphical corruption of the 「它」 component into 「也」. As part of other characters, 「它」 and 「也」 became graphically mixed up some time during the Hàn period.[ref][ref]
This thing
does not seem to be found in excavated texts, at least with an interpretation of 「地」. I believe that the intended regular script transcription is supposed to be 「埅」, but the lack of excavation records makes it difficult to trace character usage.
But boy, does that top-right component look like 「犬」.
References:
