Origin

The character combines water (shown by the three-dot radical on the left) with a component that sounds like "sen" on the right. The water radical makes sense because shallow water is water that doesn't go deep — the character's core meaning. The right component is a sound hint telling you how to pronounce the character in Chinese-derived readings, but it doesn't itself contribute meaning. Over time, shallow water became used more broadly for anything superficial or lacking depth, which is why the character now also means frivolous or shameful.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).