结合
jiéhé · HSK 3
combine
🪢 结 (knot/tie) + 合 (join/unite) = tie together, combine
结 means to tie or knot (as in 打结), and 合 means to join or close together (as in 合作). Put them side by side and you get 结合 — literally tying two things into one whole: combine, unite, integrate.
结 — silk radical 糸 + lucky 吉 (phonetic)
结 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The silk radical 糸 on the left signals the meaning, since the original sense was tying threads or cords into knots. The right side 吉 (jí) provides the sound. From the literal 'knot' it extended to figurative senses like 'bind,' 'conclude,' or 'form (a bond).'
合 — 乛 (lid/roof) + 口 (mouth)
Originally a pictograph of a lidded vessel — a cover (亼) closing over an opening (口) — giving the core sense of 'come together, join, fit.' From 'fit/match' it extended to 'combine, unite, agree' and to measure-word uses. The reading hé reflects this 'joining' meaning.