entwine · contact

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 絡 has 12 strokes and expresses entanglement or contact between people.
• Basic usage: 絡む is read からむ, and 連絡 is read れんらく.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Entanglement and harassment
  • 細い糸が針金に絡んで means a thin thread becoming tangled around wire.
  • 客が店員に絡んだ means a customer harassed a clerk.
  • 絡む has this negative use when directed at a person.
• The recipient of a message
  • 受付に連絡してください means please contact reception.
  • に marks the person or place being contacted.