We use a character which looks like 飲 for the meaning to drink something in Japan. We say "to drink (飲む)" not only for water but also for medicine, as it's common to say "Kusuri wo No-mu (薬を飲む, take medicine)." What's the impression for you to see the Japanese letter at the first glance? In fact, historically it came from a symbol for eating and from a yawing person with a wide mouth. Let's take a look at how each part was made from.

At first, you stroke the left part, which appears like the symbol for eating　"食." True, this component is called Shoku-hen, the part of eating, or Radical eat. The last terminology as well as others can be referred at Japanese Wikipedia, as you type "しょくへん (Shokuhen)" in this case.

How was the left component made? The initial drawing depicts that people get together to cook food in a pot and eat them.

Then, the right one, which means "absent" if the character stands by itself, came from one person who is yawing with his or her mouth widely open.

These two parts combined, the imaginary person might be drinking something such as water or soup with their mouth open. That's how today's character was constructed.

In addition, as I told you above, 飲 belongs to the group of eat-related characters in the language. Other examples are 飯 (Meshi, steamed rice), 餅 (Mochi, sticky rice cake), 飴 (Ame, rounded candies made of sugar, except chocolate) and so forth. The last two are not ones designated for everyday use, yet, in my view, many Japanese people can read or type them. In other words, writing by themselves would be another thing.

Personally, it was the first time to learn that you use the English term Radical to refer to a component in a language. I wouldn't expect there is a reference to a language part. Have you ever heard the word when you study? If so, how did you use it? I'm happy to learn.

Thank you for reading my article.