煤
méi · HSK 5
coal
⬛ 煤 = 火 fire + 某 mei (sound) — black rock that burns
煤 méi is the everyday word for coal. The 火 radical on the left marks it as fire-related fuel; the right side 某 (mǒu/méi) is the phonetic clue, giving the méi reading.
煤 — fire radical 火 + 某 (méi, phonetic)
煤 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The fire radical 火 signals the meaning (something that burns), while 某 supplies the sound 'méi'. Originally referring to soot or charcoal residue, the character later came to mean coal once that fuel became widely used.