根拠
こんきょ · konkyo · JLPT N1 · noun
footing
🏛️ 根 (root) + 拠 (base, hand-held support) = a root you can stand on; the basis of an argument
根 means root and 拠 means a place to rest on or rely on. Together they form the basis or grounds that a claim stands on.
根 — tree radical 木 + 艮 (phonetic)
根 is a semantic-phonetic compound. The left side 木 ('tree') gives the meaning, since the character originally referred to the roots of a tree. The right side 艮 supplies the sound. From 'tree root' it extended to mean 'root, base, foundation' in general.