漂う
ただよう · tadayou · JLPT N1 · verb-godan
to float
🎈 Water radical 氵 in 漂 means drifting on water; ta-da, you float!
The 氵 water radical marks things floating on water, and the 票 part supplies the sound. The same drifting sense extends to anything hanging in air, like a balloon.
漂 — water 氵 + 票 piào (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: 氵 (water) gives the meaning, while 票 supplies the sound. The original sense is 'to float on water,' from which extended meanings like 'to drift' and 'to bleach by rinsing' developed. The reading piào ('elegant, pretty') is a later figurative extension.