付合う
つきあう · tsukiau · JLPT N3 · verb-godan
to associate with
🤝 付く stick to + 合う fit together = stick together, keep company
付く (tsuku) means to stick or attach, and 合う (au) means to fit or match each other. Two people who stick together and get along are つきあう. It can also mean dating, as in 付き合っている, going out together.
付 — person radical 亻 + hand 寸
付 originally pictured a hand (寸) reaching out to hand something to a person (亻), depicting the act of giving or delivering. The core sense 'to hand over, deliver, pay' has remained stable since ancient bronze inscriptions. It also serves as a phonetic component in characters like 附, 符, and 府.
合 — 乛 (lid/roof) + 口 (mouth)
Originally a pictograph of a lidded vessel — a cover (亼) closing over an opening (口) — giving the core sense of 'come together, join, fit.' From 'fit/match' it extended to 'combine, unite, agree' and to measure-word uses. The reading hé reflects this 'joining' meaning.