流动
liúdòng · HSK 5
flow
🌊 流 = flow + 动 = move; together: flowing motion
流 (liú) means flow, like water; 动 (dòng) means move or action. Combined, 流动 describes anything that moves and flows — liquids, traffic, people, or capital shifting from one place to another.
流 — water radical 氵 + 㐬 (phonetic, child being born)
流 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning, while 㐬 depicts an infant being born head-down with amniotic fluid, suggesting downward flow. Together they convey water flowing, and by extension 'to flow' or 'current'.
动 — force 力 + heavy/重 (simplified from 動)
The traditional form 動 combines 重 (heavy) as the phonetic with 力 (force/strength) as the semantic, suggesting the effort needed to move something heavy. The simplified form 动 replaces 重 with 云, keeping 力 to convey action and motion.