TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 (est.) · 字
是
ㄕˋ · shì
verb — to be; adj — right, correct
字源 FORM — what the parts do
The sun (日) above, straight (正) below — what stands true under the sun is right: 是非. Classical Chinese pointed with it — this — and the pointer settled into the everyday verb to be: 我是、是不是. As a sound it gives 題、提、堤 their tí.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
正午，太陽（日）底下站得直直的（正）——沒什麼好爭的。
High noon — standing dead straight (正) under the sun (日); nothing left to argue.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)是非— right — as against wrong
→是（文言：這）— this — the classical pointer
⇒我是、是不是— to be — the everyday copula常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension