灌
guàn · HSK 7
to pour
💧🚿 氵(water) + 雚 (guàn phonetic) = pour water onto fields = irrigate
The water radical 氵carries the sense (pouring, irrigating), while 雚 supplies the guàn sound, also seen in 鹳 stork and 罐 jar. Modern slang stretches the pour metaphor: you guàn software onto a disk or guàn a track onto a record.
灌 — water 氵 + 雚 (heron/phonetic)
灌 combines the water radical 氵 with 雚, which depicts a crested heron and supplies the sound 'guàn'. The water component points to the meaning 'to pour' or 'to irrigate', while 雚 is purely phonetic. Originally referring to flooding fields, it broadened to mean pouring liquid, irrigating, or filling something up.