The kanji character 扱 essentially conveys the idea of "to handle," "to deal with," "to treat," or "to manage." It implies the act of taking something and doing something with it, whether it's physically manipulating an object or dealing with a situation or person. It often suggests a degree of skill or care in the process.

・On-yomi (音読み): ソウ ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): あつか(う)

⚫︎ 商品を取り扱う Translation: To handle/deal with merchandise. ⚫︎ 事件を扱う Translation: To handle/deal with a case/incident. ⚫︎ 丁寧な扱い Translation: Careful/polite treatment (or handling).

The kanji 扱 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). It is made up of two parts: ⚫︎ The left side (偏 - hen) is the radical or bushu (部首) for hand (手 - て), and it suggests an action involving the hand. ⚫︎ The right side (旁 - tsukuri) is the character 及 - きゅう, oyobu which gives an approximation of the sound. This component, by itself, means "to reach" or "to extend to", which relates to the action of handling something. The entire character thus depicts the meaning of handling something with one's hand, therefore, “to handle” or “to deal with”.