yuánzì Chinese characters of the chemical elements
羊

羊 yáng

“sheep, goat; Kangxi radical 123”

On its own, an ordinary character; Cantonese joeng4. Readings and gloss from the Unicode Unihan database.

Carries Oxygen

气 gas → gas
+
羊 yáng
=
氧 yǎng · O 8

Not a plain transliteration: the component was chosen for its meaning, or the name is older than the system.

Same syllable, different tone: yáng became yǎng.