Water on the left is literal: 浦 names the meeting line between water and land — a shore, river bank or river mouth. The radical groups it with 海, 江, 港, the broader water-edge family of geographical terms.
Lends the sound, with a small shift from fǔ to pǔ. It anchors a phonetic series including 捕, 铺, 葡 and 蒲 — all sharing this stem. Common in place names like 上海's 浦东 and 黄浦 along the river.
