TSUMUGU · TOCFL 3 (est.) · 字
央
央 ＝ 大 ＋ 冂
ㄧㄤ · yāng
noun — the center, middle
字源 FORM — what the parts do
冂形the piece across — a frame, or the carrying pole
A person (大) with something square across them. The old graph carries two tellings: a man standing dead-center inside a frame (冂), or a man under a carrying pole, the load swinging equal at both ends. Either way he holds the middle — 中央, the center.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
扁擔壓上肩，兩頭一樣沉——人正好在中間。
The pole settles on the shoulders, both ends equally heavy — the carrier exactly at the middle.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)中央、正中— the center常用
→央求— to plead — the borrowed branch
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension