汤圆
tāng yuán · HSK 7
flour
🍡 汤 tāng = soup + 圆 yuán = round: round balls in soup
汤 means soup and 圆 means round, so 汤圆 are the round glutinous-rice balls served in warm liquid at the Lantern Festival. The yuán in the name also echoes 团圆 (family reunion), which is why they mark that holiday.
汤 — water radical 氵 + 昜 (yáng, phonetic)
汤 is a phono-semantic compound: 氵 (water) gives the meaning and 昜 supplies the sound. It originally meant hot water or boiling water, a sense still preserved in Japanese 湯. In modern Chinese it shifted to mean soup or broth.
圆 — enclosure 囗 + 員 (phonetic)
圆 is a phono-semantic compound. The outer 囗 (enclosure) suggests a round, closed shape, while 員 provides the sound and originally depicted a round-mouthed tripod vessel. Together they came to mean 'round' or 'circle,' later extending to 'complete' and the unit of currency.