水手
shuǐ shoǔ · HSK 7
sailor
💧⚓ 水 (water) + 手 (hand) = water-hand, the hand that works the water = sailor
水 means water and 手 means hand; a water-hand is someone whose hands work the water — a sailor or seaman. The same 手 hand-as-worker pattern appears in 歌手 (song-hand = singer) and 选手 (chosen-hand = athlete).
水 — pictograph of flowing water
水 is a pictograph depicting a stream of flowing water, with the central line representing the main current and the side strokes showing splashing droplets or ripples. In oracle bone script it was drawn even more clearly as a wavy vertical line with branches. It retains its original meaning of 'water' and also serves as a radical, often appearing in the compressed form 氵.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.