灌

A phono-semantic compound consisting of:

水 (water) — semantic component, indicates connection with water or liquid;

雚 — phonetic component, supplying the sound (관 / guàn).

Originally, it referred to pouring water into fields for irrigation.

Semantic development:

- to pour water;

- to irrigate fields;

- to fill with liquid;

- to instill ideas (metaphorical).

The shift from physical irrigation to mental indoctrination reflects conceptual extension.

In Korean, 灌 appears mainly in technical vocabulary related to agriculture or medicine.

관개 (灌漑) — irrigation

주입 (注入) — to pour in; infusion

관주 (灌注) — to pour in; infusion

관수 (灌水) — watering

灌 emphasizes abundant pouring or systematic irrigation.

Related characters:

注 — to pour; to inject

溉 — to irrigate

水 — water

關 — phonetic relative in historical simplification

In the short-lived Second Chinese Simplification Scheme, the phonetic component 雚 was replaced with 关 (simplified form of 關), producing the simplified variant 浂.

This reform was later abandoned.