渗
shèn · HSK 7
to seep
💧 渗 = 氵water + 参 (shēn) on the right lends the sound; liquid that seeps through
The water radical 氵 tells you it is about liquid, and 参 (shēn) on the right gives the shèn sound. Together: water working its way through cracks, to seep or ooze.
渗 — water radical 氵 + 参 (cān, phonetic)
渗 is a phono-semantic compound. The 氵 radical signals a meaning related to water or liquid, while 参 supplies the sound. The character originally described water seeping or soaking through something, and it still carries that core sense of slow permeation today.