entries → 江
TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
character · TOCFL 2 (est.)
江 =
ㄐㄧㄤ · jiāng
noun — (large) river; the Yangtze

字源 FORM — what the parts do

water
gōng — gives the sound
{g,k,h}↔{j,q,x}IFgōng → jiāng — g and j are one family; the final shifts ong → iang
Water (氵) with 工 gōng for sound — g and j split from one old initial. First a name: the River, the 長江. The south's big rivers took their word from it; the north's took 河, after the Yellow River.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

船到江心,兩岸退成兩條灰線——水()寬得看不到頭。
Mid-river, both banks thin to gray lines — water (氵) wider than the eye can finish.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)長江— the River — the Yangtze, a proper name
江、大河— a great river — 江河、珠江常用
江南、江湖— the river country — south of it, and out on it
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension