TSUMUGU · TOCFL 6 (est.) · 字
杜
ㄉㄨˋ · dù
noun/verb — the birchleaf pear tree; to shut off, block; a surname
字源 FORM — what the parts do
{d,t}ITtǔ → dù — the {d,t} dental pair; tone falls too
Wood (木) plus the sound 土 (tǔ, hardened to dù) — a tree, the birchleaf pear (甘棠). The fruit chokes the throat shut, and from that came the live sense: to stop up, to cut off — 杜絕, 杜門不出. Best known now as the surname 杜 (the poet 杜甫).
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
一棵樹（木）長在土（土）邊，果子澀得把嘴堵住——杜。
A tree (木) by the soil (土); its fruit is so harsh it stops the mouth shut — 杜.
字源
意 · Meanings
(本義)杜梨、甘棠— the birchleaf pear tree
→杜絕、杜門— to shut off, block, cut short常用
→杜（姓）— Du, a surname
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension