暖

There are two major interpretations:

1. Phonetic–semantic compound — traditional scholarly view

日 (“sun, warmth”) — semantic component

爰 (“thereupon; accordingly”) — phonetic component (originally yuan, but shifted phonetically to nuǎn / nan)

Thus 暖 originally meant “sunny/warm because of heat”.

2. Compound–ideograph — alternative view

暖 is derived from 煖, where:

火 (fire) — gives the semantic “warmth,”

爰 — is interpreted graphically as “a hand extended toward the fire,” representing warming oneself by the fire.

Both interpretations coexist in modern lexicography.

난방 (暖房) — heating

난기 (暖氣) — warm air; heater

온난화 (溫暖化) — global warming

난로 (暖爐) — heater, stove

暖 and 煖 have been interchangeable since antiquity. In modern usage, all regions (KR/JP/CN) prefer 暖.

The phonetic 爰 appears in multiple “soft / warm / gentle” semantic fields.

Korean’s rare alternate reading 훤 is preserved only in historical dictionaries.

Classical citations:

《詩經·豳風·七月》 (The Book of Songs)

「以薪以蒸，以暖我民。」

“They gather firewood and steam to warm my people.”

(some manuscripts use 暖; others 煖)

《左傳·昭公二十年》 (Zuo Zhuan)

「天時不暖。」

“The season is not yet warm.”

煖 (U+7156) — Older/arch. form; still found in classical lit.

煗 (U+7157) — Rare variant

㬉 (U+3B09) — Extremely rare manuscript form