Inside
元 supplies the sound directly — same yuán with no shift. Modern simplification: traditional
園 had
袁 yuán (a robe pictogram) inside, and PRC reform swapped it for the shorter, identically-sounding
元. The original picture of cloth-around-the-body is gone, but the yuán reading is preserved. Same phonetic in
园's sister chars
圆 round and
远 far.
