Origin

The character 艇 combines the boat radical 舟 on the left, which establishes the basic meaning of "boat," with 廷 on the right, which serves as a sound hint suggesting the pronunciation テイ. The boat radical acts as a semantic classifier that groups this character with other water vessels, while the right component tells you roughly how to say the word aloud. Together, they create a character specifically for small, nimble boats like rowboats rather than large ships.