Origin

This character combines a hand component on the left, which signals that the action involves manual movement, with the character for tongue on the right, which serves as a sound hint for the pronunciation. The tongue component doesn't contribute to the meaning but tells you roughly how to say the character aloud. Together, the hand element and the phonetic guidance create a character meaning to tie, bind, or fasten with your hands, which naturally extends to related ideas like arrest or constrict.

AI-generated (claude-haiku-4-5), not yet reviewed. Formation type (automated guess): Phono-semantic (meaning + sound hint).