TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
戴
戴 ＝ 異 ＋ 𢦏
ㄉㄞˋ · dài
verb — to wear (on the head); to put on; to support
字源 FORM — what the parts do
𢦏聲zài — gives the soundthe phonetic behind 載、栽、裁; buried across the top and right strokes
ITzài → dài — initial and tone shift off the donor
異 shows a figure raising something overhead in both hands — already the gesture of putting on a hat. The other half is 𢦏 zài, the phonetic that also builds 載 (to load), 栽 (to plant), 裁 (to cut) — here worn into the strokes around it and shifted from zài to dài. To set a thing up on the head: 戴帽子、戴眼鏡, and figuratively to hold someone up, 擁戴.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
兩隻手把東西高高舉起（異），穩穩安到頭頂上——戴。
Both hands raise the thing high (異) and set it square on the head — to wear it.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)戴帽、戴眼鏡— to wear on the head, to put on常用
→佩戴、戴錶— to wear (an accessory)常用
⇒擁戴、愛戴— to support, to hold up (a leader)
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension