轮流
lúnliú · HSK 7
by turns
🎡 轮 wheel + 流 flow: turns roll around like a wheel, each in flow
轮 means wheel and 流 means flow; together the turn rolls from one person to the next like a wheel coming back around. Sound: LUN-LIU, both ending in a smooth flowing -u.
轮 — car radical 车 + 仑 (phonetic)
轮 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 车 (chē, 'cart/vehicle') gives the meaning, since 轮 originally referred to a wheel. The right side 仑 supplies the sound 'lún'. From 'wheel' it extended to related senses like 'rotate', 'take turns', and 'round'.
流 — water radical 氵 + 㐬 (phonetic, child being born)
流 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The water radical 氵 gives the meaning, while 㐬 depicts an infant being born head-down with amniotic fluid, suggesting downward flow. Together they convey water flowing, and by extension 'to flow' or 'current'.