槽
cáo · HSK 7
trough
🪣 CAO sounds like cow — a cow eats from a trough
The character 槽 has wood radical 木 on the left, hinting at a wooden feeding trough or channel. The right side 曹 (cáo) gives the sound. A cow (cáo) munching from a wooden trough links sound to meaning.
槽 — wood radical 木 + 曹 (cáo, phonetic)
槽 is a phono-semantic compound. The wood radical 木 signals the meaning—originally a wooden trough or feeding basin for animals. The component 曹 supplies the sound 'cáo'. From 'trough' it extended to any long hollow channel or groove, as in 河槽 (riverbed) or 牙槽 (tooth socket).