手指
shǒuzhǐ · HSK 3
finger
☝️ 手指 = hand (手) + point/finger (指)
手 means hand and 指 means to point or finger. Together they form the word for finger — literally the pointing part of the hand. 指 also shows up in 指头 (digit) and 指点 (to point out).
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.
指 — hand radical 扌 + 旨 (zhǐ, phonetic)
指 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The hand radical 扌 gives the meaning — something done with the hand, namely pointing with a finger. 旨 supplies the sound 'zhǐ'. From 'finger' it naturally extended to the verb 'to point' and figurative senses like 'to indicate' or 'to refer to'.