Dong Chinese dictionary

shàn

good

Composed of two 言 (speech) components and 羊 (sheep). In ancient China sheep (羊) were associated with goodness and beauty, which is why 羊 is a component in characters like 美 (beautiful), 善 (benevolent), and 義 (justice).

Components

羊 Meaning component

yáng

sheep

言 Sound component

yán

speech

善 and 言 don't sound similar in modern Mandarin due to historical phonetic changes. They were more similar in older Chinese.善 /*[g]e[n]ʔ/
言 /*ŋa[n]/, /*ŋa[n]/, /*ŋa[n]/, /*ŋa[r]/

Due to historical stylistic changes, this component is less similar to 言 than it was in ancient scripts.

Evolution