南

Etymology & Components

The Chinese character 南 (nán) for "south" is composed of two parts: the radical 氵(shuǐ) for "water" and the phonetic component 灈 (nán). The radical 氵indicates that the character is related to water, while the phonetic component 灈 provides a clue to its pronunciation.The original form of the character 南 was a pictograph of a person standing in a river, with the water flowing from north to south. This image was later simplified to the current form of 南.The character 南 has been used in Chinese for over 3,000 years. It is one of the most common characters in the Chinese language, and it is used in a variety of words and phrases related to the south, such as 南方 (nánfāng) for "south", 南京 (Nánjīng) for "Nanjing", and 南海 (Nánhǎi) for "South China Sea".The character 南 is also used in other languages, such as Japanese and Korean. In Japanese, the character is pronounced "minami" and is used in words such as 南京 (Nankin) for "Nanjing" and 南海 (Nankai) for "South China Sea". In Korean, the character is pronounced "nam" and is used in words such as 남경 (Namgyeong) for "Nanjing" and 남해 (Namhae) for "South China Sea".