键盘
jiàn pán · HSK 5
keyboard
⌨️ 键 = key + 盘 = plate/board → key-board
键 means key (as in a button or lock-key), and 盘 means plate or board (also in 棋盘 chess-board, 圆盘 disc). Stack them and you get key-board, the literal calque of the English term.
键 — metal radical 钅 + 建 jiàn (phonetic)
A semantic-phonetic compound. The metal radical 钅 signals the meaning category — originally a metal pin or bolt used to fasten a cart's wheel to its axle. The right side 建 supplies the sound 'jiàn'. The meaning later extended to 'key' and, in modern usage, the keys of a keyboard or piano.
盘 — 舟 boat (phonetic) + 皿 dish (meaning)
Originally written 槃 with 木 wood, depicting a wooden tray or basin. The modern form 盘 keeps 皿 (dish/vessel) as the meaning component and uses 舟 as a phonetic hint. From 'flat tray' it extended to 'plate,' 'coil/wind around,' and 'examine.'