Left water radical — three strokes, the compressed left-side form of
水. Functions as the semantic 'liquid' marker:
酒 is wine, the liquid kept in the vessel on the right. Note this is NOT
酒's indexing radical — that role belongs to
酉 below. Same radical groups
酒 with
河,
海,
汁,
油,
汤 — the wider liquid family.
