TSUMUGU · B1 (est.) · 字
漸
漸 ＝ 氵 ＋ 斬
ㄐㄧㄢˋ · jiàn
adv — gradually, by degrees
字源 FORM — what the parts do
氵義water
斬聲zhǎn — gives the sounda chariot 車 and an axe 斤 — to cut through, behead; hard to spot as one piece
{zh,j}Izhǎn → jiàn — palatal shift, the reading moved off the donor
Water (氵) with 斬 zhǎn (axe 斤 beside chariot 車, two pieces fused into one) — the word began as the name of a river. Borrowed for the way water seeps and soaks a hair at a time: to advance by small degrees, gradually (漸漸, 逐漸). Nothing leaps; it comes on slowly: 漸入佳境 (it gets better bit by bit). The sound slid from zhǎn to jiàn.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
水（氵）一絲一絲滲進來，不知不覺浸濕了一大片。
The water (氵) seeps in thread by thread, soaking a wide patch before you notice.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)漸漸、逐漸— gradually, by degrees常用
→漸進、漸變— to advance, change by stages常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
斬zhǎnthe bare sound donor — to behead, before water was added暫＝ ＋ 日zànthe series — temporary, sun 日 instead of water