担保
dān bǎo · HSK 4
to guarantee
🤝 担 (carry/bear) + 保 (protect/insure) = bear the protection = guarantee
担 means to shoulder or bear a burden; 保 means to protect or insure. Together: to shoulder responsibility for protecting someone's interest — to vouch for or guarantee. Same 保 as in 保险 (insurance).
担 — hand radical 扌 + 詹 (zhān, phonetic)
担 is a semantic-phonetic compound: 扌 (hand) gives the meaning of carrying or shouldering, while 詹 supplies the sound. Originally written 擔, it depicted bearing a load on a shoulder pole; 担 is the simplified form. Meanings extended from physical carrying to bearing responsibility.
保 — person 亻 + 呆 (child/protect phonetic)
Originally an ideograph showing an adult carrying a child on the back, meaning to protect or shield. The right side 呆 evolved from a depiction of a swaddled infant. Over time the meaning broadened from 'protect a child' to 'preserve, guarantee, keep safe.'