Origin

This character combines water, shown on the left by the three-stroke water radical, with a sound component on the right that hints at the pronunciation. The water radical classifies this as a word related to bodies of water or water-based geography. The right component provides a phonetic clue to how the character should be pronounced in Chinese and Japanese. Together, the water radical and sound hint create a character that describes a specific type of waterside place, namely a bay or inlet where water meets the shore.