饭碗
fàn wǎn · HSK 7
fig. livelihood
🍚🥣 饭 fan (rice) + 碗 wan (bowl) = rice bowl, your livelihood
Literally a bowl of rice — the thing that feeds you. Losing your 饭碗 means losing your job, the source that puts food on your table. The compound is straightforward: rice + bowl = how you earn your living.
饭 — food radical 飠/饣 + 反 fǎn (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 饣 (simplified from 飠, 'eat/food') gives the meaning, while 反 on the right hints at the sound. Originally referring to cooked grain, it broadened to mean cooked rice and, by extension, a meal in general.
碗 — stone radical 石 + 宛 (wǎn, phonetic)
碗 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 石 radical originally indicated stone or hard material, reflecting that early bowls were made of stone or pottery; later it came to cover ceramic and porcelain bowls too. The component 宛 supplies the pronunciation wǎn.