柞 (zuò): oak (Quercus serrata); sawtooth…

Meanings

山上有一片柞树林。

Shānshàng yǒu yípiàn zuò shùlín.

There is a forest of oaks on the mountain.

柞蚕靠柞树的叶子养大。

Zuò cán kào zuò shù de yèzi yǎng dà.

Tussah silkworms are raised on oak leaves.

usage

Read 柞 for the oak tree — 柞树 (oak), 柞蚕 (tussah silkworm, fed on oak). The separate reading 柞 only appears in the place name 柞水.

radical

木 mù

tree; wood

Left is the tree radical 木, marking the character as a kind of tree — here the oak, valued for its hard timber and for feeding silkworms.

phonetic

乍 zhà

suddenly (phonetic)

Right is 乍, purely for sound; it gives the zhà reading directly and the zuò reading by a shift. The same phonetic drives 作 and 炸.

柞 zuò