院
yuàn · HSK 2
courtyard
🏛️ 院 = 阝(mound/place) + 完 (wán, complete) — a walled, complete compound
Phono-semantic: 阝on the left marks a place or enclosure; 完 wán gives the sound (yuàn) and hints at something whole or enclosed. Hence a courtyard or institutional compound — hospital 医院, school 学院, court 法院.
院 — left ear 阝(阜) + complete 完
院 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left 阝 (from 阜, mound/hill) suggests walls or enclosed terrain, hinting at an enclosed space. The right 完 (wán) provides the sound and originally meant 'complete', so 院 came to mean a walled courtyard or institution like a hospital or academy.