涵 (hán) · to contain, to include, culvert

Meanings

1 to contain
2 to include
3 culvert

Characters

涵

hán

contain / include / culvert

Examples

HSK 3

他很有涵养。

Tā hěn yǒu hányǎng.

He has great self-restraint.

HSK 5

这个词涵盖很多意思。

Zhège cí hángài hěnduō yìsi.

This word covers many meanings.

HSK 5

桥下有一个涵洞。

Qiáoxià yǒu yígè hán dòng.

There is a culvert under the bridge.

Tips

usage

涵 rarely stands alone in modern Chinese - you'll see it in compounds like 涵盖 (cover), 涵养 (self-restraint), 内涵 (connotation), and 涵洞 (culvert).

memory

Note the 氵 (water) radical: the original sense was water gathering or soaking in, which extends to the modern meaning of containing or including.

Components

radical

氵 shuǐ

water (radical form of 水)

Three-drops water radical, side-form of 水. The indexing radical: 涵 originally described water flowing through a culvert - held, contained, channelled. The water-as-container metaphor blossomed into 包涵 'to encompass / forgive' and 内涵 'inner content.' Same water-containment family: 浸 to soak, 涌 to gush, 流 to flow.

phonetic

函 hán

letter; box; contain

Right side 函 supplies the sound exactly: hán → hán, identical pinyin and tone. 函 itself pictures an arrow inside its quiver - a contained thing. The phonetic does double duty: 函 means 'to contain / a sealed letter,' exactly what 涵 means figuratively (涵盖 to include, 涵养 self-cultivation). Rare for phonetic and meaning to overlap so cleanly.