笑う
わらう · warau · JLPT N4 · verb-godan
to laugh
😂 warau: sounds like wah-rah-OO, a belly laugh that ends in a whoop
The kanji 笑 = bamboo (竹) on top + 夭, a person bending. One classic reading: bamboo swaying in the wind is like someone doubled over laughing. The う ending marks it as a verb: warau, to laugh or smile.
笑 — bamboo radical 竹 (⺮) + 夭 (yāo, bending)
Originally written with the bamboo radical over 夭, depicting a person bending or swaying. One traditional reading is that bamboo bends in the wind like a person doubling over with laughter. The character has meant 'laugh, smile' since early times, with no major shift in meaning.