The kanji 扱 essentially conveys the meaning of "to handle," "to deal with," "to treat," or "to manage." It implies the action of dealing with something or someone in a specific way, often with a degree of care or consideration. It also encompasses the idea of control, management, or how something is being processed or utilized.

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

⚫︎ 商品を取り扱う (shouhin o toriatsukau) Translation: To handle/deal with products. ⚫︎ 事件を扱う (jiken o atsukau) Translation: To handle/deal with a case/incident. ⚫︎ この問題は慎重に扱ってください (kono mondai wa shinchou ni atsukatte kudasai) Translation: Please handle this problem with care.

The kanji 扱 is a phono-semantic compound (形声文字). The left side is a component representing a hand, and the right side originally represented the meaning of gathering. It is believed that it was formed to represent the action of handling with the hand. Therefore, the left side relates to the "hand" component, while the right side suggests gathering or collecting, metaphorically representing the act of managing or dealing with something.