結び付く
むすびつく · musubitsuku · JLPT N1 · verb-godan
to be connected or related
🔗 結 (tie, knot) + 付く (attach, stick to) = tied and stuck together, so connected
結ぶ (musubu) means to tie a knot; 付く (tsuku) means to attach or adhere. Together they describe things knotted or stuck together, hence connected or related.
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.