表扬
biǎoyáng · HSK 4
praise
👏 表 = outward/surface + 扬 = raise up; raise someone up publicly
表 means outer/show (as in 表面 surface), 扬 means to lift or raise high (as in 飞扬 fly upward). Together: to lift someone up where others can see — public praise, not private approval.
表 — fur 毛 on top + garment 衣 below
Originally depicted an outer fur garment, with 毛 (fur) above 衣 (clothing), showing the hairy outside of a coat. From 'outer garment' it extended to mean 'outside, surface,' then 'to show, express, display,' and later 'table, chart' as something laid out on the surface.
扬 — hand radical 扌 + 昜 (rising sun)
扬 is a semantic-phonetic compound: the hand radical 扌 gives the meaning (an action done with the hand), while 昜 (sun rising over the horizon) supplies the sound 'yáng'. The original sense was to raise or lift up, which broadened to 'spread, scatter, make known'. The modern simplified form replaces the older 揚.