TSUMUGU · C1 (est.) · 字
乳
乳 ＝ 孚 ＋ 乙
ㄖㄨˇ · rǔ
noun — milk; breast — verb — to suckle
字源 FORM — what the parts do
孚義a hand (爪) over a child (子) — holding, broodingthe hand 爪 sits as the top-left strokes; the child 子 below
The old graph carries two tellings of 孚: a hand cupped over a child (爪 over 子), the brooding-and-feeding picture, with a curl (乙) at the side; or 孚 fú as the sound donor — its series runs 孵 fū, 俘 fú, 浮 fú — beside 肉/flesh for the body that feeds. Either way the word lands on milk and nursing: 乳房 the breast, 乳汁 milk, 哺乳 to suckle, 乳兒 the infant at the breast.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
一隻手攏著孩子（孚），餵著奶——這就是乳。
A hand gathers the child in (孚), feeding it — and that is 乳, milk.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)乳、哺乳— to suckle, to nurse常用
→乳房、乳汁— breast; milk常用
⇒乳兒— a nursing infant
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
孔＝ 子 ＋ kǒngthe lookalike — 孔 sets the curl beside a bare 子; 乳 keeps the brooding hand 爪 over the child ()孚fúthe part it shares — 孚 alone is the hand over the child (爪+子), and it sounds 孵 fū, 浮 fú; 乳 builds on it