吩 (fēn): (in 吩咐) to instruct; to tell (s…

Meanings

爷爷吩咐我好好照看小马。

Yéye fēnfù wǒ hǎohǎo zhàokàn xiǎomǎ.

Grandpa told me to take good care of the foal.

你有什么事尽管吩咐，我马上去办。

Nǐ yǒu shénme shì jǐnguǎn fēnfù, wǒ mǎshàng qù bàn.

Just tell me whatever you need, and I'll do it right away.

usage

吩 only lives in the word 吩咐 (to instruct, give orders), typically a senior telling a junior to do something. It has no standalone use of its own.

radical

口 kǒu

mouth

The mouth radical 口 on the left signals a speech act, fitting since 吩咐 means to give spoken instructions.

phonetic

分 fēn

to divide; portion (here phonetic)

Right side 分 (to divide) gives the sound fēn with no drift. The faint sense of "parcelling out" tasks fits an order being handed down.

吩 fēn