话筒
huà tǒng · HSK 7
microphone
🎤 话 talk + 筒 tube = the tube you talk into = microphone
话 means speech or talk; 筒 is a tube or cylinder (same 筒 as in a thick pipe). A microphone or phone handset is literally the talk-tube you speak into.
话 — speech radical 讠 (言) + tongue 舌
话 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 讠 (simplified from 言, 'speech') gives the meaning, signaling something said, while 舌 ('tongue') hints at the sound and reinforces the speaking sense. The traditional form 話 makes the 言 element explicit; today 话 means 'speech, talk, words.'
筒 — bamboo radical 竹 + tóng 同 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The bamboo radical 竹 on top signals the meaning, since early tubes and containers were made from hollow bamboo segments, while 同 below supplies the sound 'tóng'. The original sense was a bamboo tube, later broadened to any cylindrical container like a bucket or canister.