笑 (xiào)

Etymology

Phonosemantic compound. ⺮ represents the meaning and 夭 represents the sound.

Shuowen Jiezi

《說文新附》：“此字本闕。臣鉉等案：孫愐《唐韻》引《說文》云‘喜也，从竹，从犬’，而不述其義。今俗皆从犬。又案：李陽冰刊定《說文》‘从竹，从夭’，義云‘竹得風其體夭屈如人之笑’。未知其審。”

Components

• ⺮ (unknown) — ⺮ is a component form of 竹. The original connection of this component to "laugh" is unclear.
• 夭 (sound)