Several parts combine into one character.

Compound character: an upper element depicting a shoulder profile + 月 (the flesh-radical, indicating body part). The encoded meaning: "the fleshy part of the shoulder profile". Identical across 繁體 / 新字体 / 简体.

Mandarin: jiān, level 1st tone. 肩膀 (jiānbǎng, shoulder — the everyday word, the colloquial 肩膀 has stronger connotation than 肩 alone), 肩负 (jiānfù, to shoulder / bear responsibility — used metaphorically for taking on duties), 并肩 (bìngjiān, side by side — "shoulders together"), 双肩包 (shuāngjiānbāo, backpack — "double-shoulder bag"). The metaphor "to shoulder responsibility" works identically in Chinese and English.

Japanese: on-reading ケン (ken) — 双肩 (sōken, both shoulders / the burden one shoulders), 強肩 (kyōken, strong throwing arm — sports vocabulary). Kun-reading かた (kata) is the everyday word — 肩 (kata, shoulder), 肩こり (katakori, shoulder stiffness — a famously prevalent Japanese complaint), 肩書き (katagaki, job title — "shoulder writing", from medieval armor inscriptions), 肩身が狭い (katami ga semai, "shoulders narrow" → feel small / embarrassed).

肩こり (katakori, shoulder stiffness from desk work) is one of the most-mentioned Japanese health complaints — Japan has an entire industry of massage shops, 整体 (seitai) clinics, 湿布 (shippu, medicated patches), and even shoulder-massage bras. The word is essentially untranslatable in casual English.

The expression 肩を貸す (kata o kasu, "lend a shoulder") means to support someone — same metaphor as English "shoulder to lean on".

Memory aid: shoulder profile + flesh — the body's arched joint.