而
ér · HSK 4
and yet
而 sounds like 'er' — the connector between two clauses, like 'and yet'
而 is a classical conjunction linking contrasting or sequential ideas. Originally a pictograph of a beard hanging from a chin, it was borrowed phonetically for this grammatical role. Think of it as the hinge word: A, 而 B.
而 — pictograph of beard/whiskers hanging from chin
Originally a pictograph of a beard or facial hair hanging below the chin, visible clearly in oracle bone and bronze script forms. The beard meaning was lost early, and the character was borrowed phonetically to write the grammatical conjunction 'and/but/yet'. This connective use has been standard since classical Chinese.