淹
yān · HSK 7
to drown
🌊 淹 = 氵 water + 奄 (yǎn, to cover over) — water covers everything = to flood
The 氵 water radical carries the meaning; 奄 supplies the yān sound and a hint of covering over. Water that covers and submerges is a flood — and standing liquid that sits on skin too long irritates it.
淹 — water radical 氵 + 奄 (cover/suddenly)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 氵 supplies the meaning 'water,' while 奄 gives the sound and a hint of 'covering over.' Together they depict water covering or submerging something, yielding the core senses 'to drown,' 'to flood,' and by extension 'to soak' or 'linger.'