允许
yǔnxǔ · HSK 6
allow
✅ sounds like you-n-sure — are you sure you allow it?
Yǔnxǔ echoes 'you ensure' — when you permit something, you ensure it can happen. The first character 允 means 'to consent' and 许 means 'to allow,' so together they double down on granting permission.
许 — speech radical 讠 (言) + 午 (noon/phonetic)
许 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The 讠 (speech) radical signals a meaning tied to spoken acts, while 午 supplies the sound. Its core senses — to permit, promise, or praise — all stem from things granted through words.