grieve, relatives
戚 centers on sorrow and close family ties: grieving or worrying, and the relatives who share that grief. The two ideas connect through the emotional weight of kinship.
戚 combines 戊 (a halberd-like weapon) with 尗 (a phonetic component suggesting sorrow). The weapon element may have contributed a sense of threat or grief, while 尗 provided the sound and emotional core.
Outside, a halberd (戊) looms; inside, a small sorrow (尗) grows. Imagine a weapon bringing grief to a family, so 戚 means both grieving and the relatives who mourn together.
For ソク, picture a grieving relative seeking solace in a sock: sock -> ソク, and the soft sock soothes their sorrow.
relative; relation; kin
weal and woe; joys and sorrows; welfare
maternal relative
in-law; relative by marriage
relation by marriage
grief
relative
relations with one's relatives; socializing with relatives
relatives and old friends
one's family and relatives; one's kith and kin
relatives and acquaintances
relations; members of extended family
a neighbour is better than a relative living far
distant relative