蘇

It is a phono-semantic compound, composed of:

艸 (“grass, plants”) as the semantic element;

穌 (so, “to awaken, to revive”) as the phonetic element.

In fact, 蘇 is a later form, and its original form was 穌 (U+7A4C), itself a phono-semantic compound:

禾 (“grain, rice plant”) as the semantic element;

魚 (“fish”) as the phonetic.

Both forms carried the sense of “to revive, to awaken.”

In Korean, 소 (蘇) appears in words expressing revival, restoration, or reawakening:

소생 (蘇生) – revival, restoration

부소 (復蘇) – recovery, resurgence

회소 (回蘇) – coming back to life, regaining consciousness

It also appears in proper nouns:

소련 (蘇聯) – Soviet Union

소씨 (蘇氏) – surname So (used as a surname in both Korea and China).

蘇 evolved from its root in 穌, meaning “revival, awakening,” into a versatile character used for resurrection, restoration, surnames, and modern abbreviations (e.g., Soviet Union, Sukhoi jets).

苏 – Simplified Chinese form.

甦 – A widely used variant, still common in the Sinosphere and often interchangeable with 蘇.

蘓 – Less common variant form.