讨
tǎo · HSK 7
marry
🗣️ 讨 = speech radical 讠 + 寸 (inch/measure); demanding something by talking it out
The 讠 on the left marks words or speech, and 寸 originally meant a measured rule or hand; together they give the sense of pressing or measuring out a claim through speech, hence to demand, to dun for a debt, and by extension to seek or marry a wife. The tǎo sound rhymes with the ow in towel.
讨 — speech radical 讠 + inch 寸
A semantic-phonetic compound combining 讠 (speech) with 寸 (a hand/measure), suggesting demanding or seeking through words. The original sense was to denounce or punish verbally, which broadened over time to mean 'to demand,' 'to ask for,' and 'to discuss.' Modern uses like 讨论 (discuss) and 讨厌 (detest) reflect this range.