第二

Why does 第二 look like this?

'第' (dì) consists of the 'bamboo' radical (⺮) at the top and the phonetic/meaning element '弓' (bow) with steps below. Originally, it referred to bamboo slips used for official records or rankings. '二' (èr) is simply two horizontal lines representing the number two. Together, they form the ordinal number 'second'.