风浪
fēng làng · HSK 7
wave
🌬️🌊 风 (wind) + 浪 (wave) = wind-and-waves; literal compound for stormy sea
Compound of 风 fēng (wind) + 浪 làng (wave). Used literally for rough seas and figuratively for turmoil or hardship, much like the English idiom weathering the storm.
风 — 几 (table) + 虫 (insect)
Originally written 鳳 (phoenix), later simplified. The traditional form 風 contains 虫 (insect), reflecting an old belief that wind brought insects or that creatures stirred with the wind. The modern simplified 风 keeps 几 as an outer frame around 㐅.
浪 — water radical 氵 + 良 (good/phonetic)
浪 is a phono-semantic compound: 氵 (water) gives the meaning and 良 supplies the sound. It originally referred to waves on water, then extended figuratively to anything surging, unrestrained, or wandering — hence modern senses like 'wave,' 'wasteful,' or 'dissolute.'