難

Phono-semantic compound:

隹 (추, “short-tailed bird”) – provides the meaning (originally referring to a bird);

𦰩 (근/간) – provides the sound.

Originally, the character depicted a certain bird, but it was later borrowed (假借) to mean “difficult.”

It is widely used in words relating to difficulty (困難), disaster (災難), and criticism (非難), and even forms part of expressions of gratitude in Japanese (有り難い).

It can also mean “to criticize, to rebuke, to reproach” (따지다, 나무라다, 꾸짖다).

Do not confuse 難 with 亂 (란, “chaos”) – the characters and meanings are different.