TSUMUGU · TOCFL C1 (est.) · 字
狹
狹 ＝ 犭 ＋ 夾
ㄒㄧㄚˊ · xiá
adj — narrow, cramped; narrow-minded
字源 FORM — what the parts do
犭義a dog — squeezing through tight ground
{tɕ,ɕ}ITjiā → xiá — palatal initial slides, tone shifts
A dog (犭) on tight ground — cramped, narrow. 夾 jiā carries the sound, the initial worn from j to x, the same donor under 峽 and 挾. From the tight squeeze: 狹窄, 狹小, the 狹路 too narrow to pass.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
夾在兩堵牆中間，狗（犭）側著身才擠得過——狹。
Wedged between two walls, the dog (犭) must turn sideways to squeeze through — narrow.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)窄— narrow, cramped常用
→狹窄、狹小— narrow, small
⇒狹隘— narrow-minded
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension