草原
cǎoyuán · HSK 5
grassland
🌾 草 (grass) + 原 (plain/origin) = grassy plain = steppe
草 means grass; 原 means a plain or open field (also 'origin'). Together: an open field of grass — steppe, veld, prairie. 原 also shows up in 原因 (cause) and 草原 keeps its 'open field' sense.
草 — grass radical 艹 + 早 (zǎo, phonetic)
草 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The top 艹 (grass radical, derived from 艸) gives the meaning 'grass' or 'plant', while 早 underneath supplies the sound. Originally 草 referred to a specific plant and acorn-like fruit, but it shifted to mean grass and vegetation broadly, and by extension 'rough' or 'draft'.
原 — cliff 厂 + spring 泉 (white 白 + water 水)
Originally a pictograph showing a spring of water flowing out from beneath a cliff, depicting the source of a stream. From this concrete image of a water source, the meaning extended to 'origin,' 'source,' and 'original.' A separate character 源 was later created with the water radical 氵 to keep the literal 'spring' sense.