灵巧
líng qiǎo · HSK 7
nimble
🤹 灵 quick-witted + 巧 skillful = nimble, deft hands and mind
灵 carries the sense of quick and lively (as in 灵活, flexible); 巧 means clever or skillful (as in 技巧, technique). Stack the two and you get deftness: a nimble, ingenious touch.
灵 — rain 雨 + mouths 口口口 + shaman 巫
Originally written 靈, depicting shamans (巫) using mouths (口口口) to chant prayers for rain (雨). The character meant a spirit medium who could summon rain, then broadened to mean spirit, soul, or supernatural efficacy. The simplified form 灵 replaces the lower portion with 火 (fire) over 彐.
巧 — 工 (work) + 丂 (breath/exhalation phonetic)
巧 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left 工 (work, craft) gives the meaning, pointing to skilled craftsmanship, while the right 丂 supplies the sound. From 'skilled handiwork' the meaning broadened to 'clever, ingenious,' and later to 'coincidental' as in 凑巧.