贴
tiē · HSK 4
paste
📮 贴 = 贝 (shell/money) + 占 (zhān, to occupy) — money sticks where placed
Etymology: 贝 (cowrie shell, used as ancient money) plus 占 as phonetic; original sense was pledging money, which extended to sticking/affixing. Modern uses include 贴邮票 (paste a stamp) and 贴近 (stick close to).
贴 — shell radical 贝 + occupy 占
A semantic-phonetic compound. The shell radical 贝 (originally cowrie shells used as money) signals the meaning, since 贴 first meant 'to pawn' or 'to pledge' something for money. The phonetic 占 (zhān) hints at the sound. The meaning later broadened to 'paste/stick on' and 'subsidy'.