舔
tiǎn · HSK 7
to lick
👅🍦 left side is 舌 (tongue) — you lick with the tongue; tiǎn sounds like tee-EN
舔 pairs the 舌 (tongue) radical on the left with a phonetic component on the right. The tongue radical is the meaning anchor: licking is a tongue action. Say tiǎn like tee-EN with a dipping then rising tone.
舔 — tongue 舌 + 忝 (phonetic)
舔 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The tongue radical 舌 on the left signals the meaning—an action done with the tongue, namely licking. The right side 忝 (tiǎn) supplies the pronunciation. The character is a relatively late formation used specifically for the verb 'to lick.'