TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 · 字
九
ㄐㄧㄡˇ · jiǔ
num — nine
字源 FORM — what the parts do
九形an arm bent at the elbow, hand curled in to reach
An arm bends at the elbow, the hand curling in to grope for something — the old graph draws that hook. The number borrowed it early and kept it; nine also stands in for the utmost: 九霄、九泉.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
手臂（九）彎進罈子，指尖貼著底，掏出最後一把米。
The arm (九) crooks into the jar, fingertips on the bottom, groping out the last handful of rice.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(假借)九— nine常用
→九霄、九泉— nine as the utmost — highest sky, deepest spring
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
丸wánthe lookalike — with a dot caught in the hook究＝ 穴 ＋ jiū lends its sound under the cave 穴 — to dig to the bottom