灌输
guàn shū · HSK 7
to imbue with
💧📥 灌 pour/irrigate + 输 convey/transport = pour knowledge in until it sinks deep
灌 carries the 氵water radical and means to pour or irrigate; 输 means to transport or deliver. Together they mean instilling ideas the way water is poured into a field until fully soaked in.
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.
输 — cart 車 + 兪 (phonetic)
输 is a phono-semantic compound. The radical 車 (cart/vehicle) gives the meaning, originally referring to transporting goods by cart. The component 兪 supplies the sound. From 'transport' it extended to 'send/deliver', then by metaphor to 'lose' (as in handing over stakes in a game).