The &quot;etymology&quot; you speak of (and is often used in a Chinese context) has nothing to do with actual etymology. The origin of <i>characters</i> is barely related at all to the origins of <i>words</i>.<p>The word 灣 <i>wān</i> (= bay, cove) <i>might</i> be related to 彎 <i>wān</i> (= curve, bend) but the character doesn&#x27;t tell us that; it&#x27;s certainly not related to 水 <i>shuǐ</i> (= water) which appears in 灣 as 氵.<p>灣 <i>wān</i> also provides an excellent example of where the &quot;character etymology&quot; definitely <i>isn&#x27;t</i> the actual origin of the word. 臺灣 <i>Táiwān</i> (= Taiwan) is made of characters meaning &quot;terrace&quot; and &quot;cove&quot;, so you might think <i>aha</i>, Taiwan has a purely Chinese etymology from &quot;Terrace Cove&quot;, but in fact it&#x27;s unrelated: it&#x27;s from Siraya (an indigenous Taiwanese language) <i>Tay-uan</i> (= sea people).