啃
kěn · HSK 7
to gnaw
🦴🐭 口 mouth + 肯 (kěn, gives the sound) = work the mouth on something hard = gnaw
肯 supplies the kěn sound while 口 (mouth) marks the meaning. Think of a rodent named Ken working his teeth on a bone: Ken-gnaws = kěn = 啃.
啃 — mouth 口 + 肯 (kěn, willing/phonetic)
啃 is a phono-semantic compound. The mouth radical 口 signals an action done with the mouth, while 肯 supplies the sound kěn. Together they convey the meaning 'to gnaw' or 'to nibble', as in chewing on something hard like a bone.