薩

A phono-semantic compound:

艸 (“grass, plant”) — semantic element (common in Buddhist transliteration characters).

隡 (san/sà, phonetic, obscure origin) — phonetic element, giving the sound.

Created mainly as a transliteration character in the context of Buddhist texts, most famously in 菩薩 (bodhisattva, “enlightened being”).

菩薩 (보살) — bodhisattva (lit. “enlightened being who vows to save all”)

薩滿 (살만) — shaman (loan from Tungusic šaman)

薩摩 (사쓰마) — Satsuma (Japanese region)

薩克森 (삭슨) — Saxony

薩達姆 (사담) — Saddam (Hussein)

薩拉熱窩 (사라예보) — Sarajevo

薩克斯 (색스) — saxophone (loan)

披薩 (피자) — pizza (loan)

In modern Chinese, 薩 is mostly seen in transliterations of foreign names, places, and objects.

In Buddhist usage, 薩 by itself rarely appears; it is nearly always in compounds (菩薩).

The semantic radical 艸 is decorative here rather than meaning-related, chosen partly to fit the Buddhist transliteration style (many such characters use 艸, 言, or other radicals arbitrarily).