沿

yán = y + an2

along / to follow (a line, tradition etc) / to carry on / to trim (a border with braid, tape etc) / border / edge

沿 = 氵 + 几 + 口 : Maud Younger (y) hides a huge mandarin (口) under a table (几) in the anthill's kitchen (an2). She doesn't want anyone to touch it, so she marks the border (沿) of the forbidden zone using water bottles (氵).

沿 character breakdown

沿
- 几
- 口
- 氵
  - ⺀
    - 丶
  - ㇀

几

ji̅ = ji + Ø1

small table

Joan of Arc (ji) is sitting at a small table (几) in front of the space station (Ø1) and reading her Bible, waiting for a message from God.

口

kǒu = k + ou3

mouth / classifier for things with mouths (people, domestic animals, cannons, wells etc) / classifier for bites or mouthfuls

Mnemonic symbol: 口 shall be represented by a mandarin. Karl Marx (k-) is enjoying a mandarin in the outhouse's living room (ou3).

几

幾

ji̅ = ji + Ø1

almost

几

幾

jǐ = ji + Ø3

how much / how many / several / a few

氵

shuǐ = shu + ei3

"water" radical in Chinese characters (Kangxi radical 85), occurring in 沒|没[mei2], 法[fa3], 流[liu2] etc / see also 三點水|三点水[san1 dian3 shui3]

氵 = ⺀ + ㇀ : Mnemonic symbol: a bottle of water. Sheldon Shrimp (shu) enjoys a bottle of water (氵) in the Eiffel Tower's living room (ei3). The got the water by scratching (㇀) a blossom (⺀) and catching the leaking dew in a bottle.