答える
こたえる · kotaeru · JLPT N5 · verb-ichidan
to answer
💬 答 = bamboo 竹 + fit 合: a reply that fits the question, like matched bamboo slips
Kotae-ru sounds like 'coat? Eh... ru!' — someone asks about your coat and you answer. The kanji 答 stacks bamboo (竹) over fit/match (合): old writing was on bamboo slips, and an answer is the slip that matches the question.
答 — bamboo radical 竹 + 合 (combine)
Originally written with the bamboo radical because answers were inscribed on bamboo slips. The phonetic 合 ('to join, match') gives both the sound and the sense of a reply 'matching' a question. Over time 答 came to mean 'answer' or 'respond' generally.