湖
hú · HSK 2
lake
🌊 湖 = 氵(water) + 胡 (hú, phonetic) — a lake
The 氵 radical marks anything water-related; 胡 supplies the hú sound. Famous lakes give Hunan (south of the lake) and Hubei (north of the lake) their names.
湖 — water 氵 + 胡 (phonetic)
湖 is a phono-semantic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning, indicating something related to water, while 胡 (hú) supplies the sound. Together they denote a lake — a body of standing water — which has been its core meaning since early usage.