歌手
gēshǒu · HSK 3
singer
🎤 歌手 = song + hand (a 'hand' is a skilled person, like 'old hand')
歌 means song and 手 literally means hand, but 手 often marks a person skilled at something (cf. 选手 player, 高手 expert). So 歌手 = song-hand = singer.
歌 — 哥 (phonetic 'gē') + 欠 (open mouth)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The right side 欠 depicts a person with an open mouth, supplying the meaning of singing or vocalizing. The left side 哥 gives the sound 'gē'. Together they form the verb and noun for 'song' or 'to sing'.
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.