Early forms of 酒 show small water marks beside 酉, the drawing of a narrow-necked vessel used for fermented drink. The vessel supplied the meaning, while the water marks made the liquid explicit. Those two parts remain in today’s character as 氵 on the left and 酉 on the right — a drink beside its jar.
A piece of culture
Drink, vessel and ritual Surviving Shang- and Zhou-era bronzes include many carefully made ritual wine vessels. They show that fermented drinks belonged not only at ordinary tables but also in ceremonies and offerings. The old jar inside 酒 quietly preserves that long history every time the character is written.