铅笔
qiān bǐ · HSK 6
pencil
✏️ 铅笔 = lead + pen — a pencil is literally a lead writing tool
Pencil cores were once thought to be lead (actually graphite). Chinese keeps that old belief baked right into the name: lead-pen.
铅 — metal radical 钅 + 㕣 (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound: the metal radical 钅 (金) signals a metal, while 㕣 supplies the sound, originally close to 'yan' but shifted to qiān. The character has long denoted lead, the soft heavy metal, and by extension things like pencil 'lead' (铅笔) in modern usage.
笔 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 毛 (hair/fur)
Originally written 筆, depicting a writing brush: 竹 (bamboo) on top for the shaft and 毛 (hair) below for the bristles. Early brushes were bamboo handles tipped with animal hair. The simplified form 笔 keeps the same logic, just replacing the lower component directly with 毛.