About
The character 掬 (jū) is a phono-semantic compound that visually represents the action of scooping with cupped hands. The left side features the hand radical 扌 (shǒu), indicating its semantic category as a manual action. The right side contains 匊 (jū), which provides the phonetic element and contributes to the meaning. Etymologically, 匊 depicts rice (米) enclosed within a wrapper (勹), suggesting a handful. Adding the hand radical to form 掬 turned the concept into a verb, specifying the action of scooping up water, grain, or other loose materials. Over time, its meaning broadened to include figurative uses, such as holding an intangible thing like a beautiful reflection, while retaining the core image of hands cupped together.