茎
jīng · HSK 7
stem
🌿 茎 = grass radical 艹 on top of 巠; the grassy part of a plant that holds it up = the stem
The 艹 radical marks plant words. Pronounced jīng, 茎 is the stalk or stem. The 巠 component (also in 经 jīng) carries the sound, so 艹 plus a jīng-sounding part gives you a plant word said jīng.
茎 — grass radical 艹 + 巠 (jīng, phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The grass radical 艹 on top signals a plant meaning, while 巠 below provides the sound 'jīng'. Originally referring to plant stalks or stems, the character still carries this botanical sense today, used for stems of plants and by extension stem-like structures.