溢
yì · HSK 7
to overflow
💧🌊 氵water + 益 yì = the sound; 益 itself was once water spilling over a dish 皿
溢 means to overflow. 益 (benefit) originally showed water 水 above a dish 皿 — water brimming over the top. Once 益 got reused for benefit, a second water radical 氵 was added to keep the overflow meaning, giving 溢.
溢 — water 氵 + 益 (overflow)
溢 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning, while 益 supplies the sound and originally depicted water spilling over a vessel. 益 itself once meant 'overflow,' but as it took on the sense of 'benefit,' 溢 was created with added 氵 to preserve the original 'spill over' meaning.