猫
ねこ · neko · JLPT N5 · noun
cat
🐱 ne-ko: a cat naps on your KNEE, then purrs for a COKE
Sound-alike hook: ne sounds like knee, ko like the start of Coke. One old folk etymology says neko comes from neru (to sleep) + ko (little one), so a cat is literally the little sleeper.
猫 — dog/beast radical 犭 + 苗 (miáo, sprout)
猫 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 犭 is the 'beast' radical, signaling an animal. The right side 苗 (miáo) supplies the sound, which also evokes a cat's 'meow'. Originally written 貓 with the 豸 radical for clawed beasts; 犭 became standard in simplified Chinese.