沅
Yuán

name of a river in western Hunan that flows into Dongting lake

Phonosemantic compound. 氵 represents the meaning and 元 represents the sound.

Components

氵
氵 Meaning component
shui, shuǐ water

氵 is a component form of 水.

元
元 Sound component
yuán first

Character Evolution

Bronze form
Bronze Mid Warring States ~300 BC
Seal form
Seal Shuowen ~100 AD
Clerical form
Clerical Western Han 202 BC-9 AD
Regular Modern

Historical Pronunciations

Middle ChineseOld Chinese
Zhengzhangŋon
Unicodengiuæn

說文解字

水。出牂牁故且蘭，東北入江。从水元聲。

Sources

Readings & variants
Unicode
Historical pronunciations
Zhengzhang Shangfang
Historical images
Academia Sinica
Etymology
Shuowen Jiezi (說文解字)