审判
shěn pàn · HSK 7
a trial
⚖️ 审 (examine) + 判 (judge) = examine-and-judge = a trial
审 means to examine or investigate; 判 means to judge or decide. Put the examining and the deciding together and you get the courtroom trial where a case is heard and ruled on. shěn pàn.
判 — half 半 (phonetic) + knife 刂 (semantic)
判 combines 半 'half' with 刂 'knife', literally suggesting cutting something in two. The knife radical gives the meaning of dividing or judging, while 半 provides the sound. From 'splitting apart' it extended to 'discriminate, judge, decide'.