汪洋
wāng yáng · HSK 7
vast body of water
🌊 Both chars take the water radical 氵; their phonetics 王 wáng + 羊 yáng spell the sound
汪 = 氵(water) + 王 wáng, and 洋 = 氵(water) + 羊 yáng (ocean). Two water-radical characters stacked together push the sense from a pool up to a vast, open expanse of water.
洋 — water radical 氵 + sheep 羊
洋 combines the water radical 氵 (meaning) with 羊 'sheep' (phonetic, hinting at the sound yáng). Originally it referred to a vast body of water or ocean. Later it extended to mean 'foreign' or 'overseas,' since foreign things came across the ocean.