答复
dáfù · HSK 5
answer
💬 答 = answer/reply + 复 = repeat/respond; literally 'answer-back'
答 means to answer (as in 回答). 复 means to repeat or respond (as in 回复). Together 答复 stacks both 'answer' morphemes, giving a formal 'reply' — the kind you write back to an official letter or request.
答 — bamboo radical 竹 + 合 (combine)
Originally written with the bamboo radical because answers were inscribed on bamboo slips. The phonetic 合 ('to join, match') gives both the sound and the sense of a reply 'matching' a question. Over time 答 came to mean 'answer' or 'respond' generally.