TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
由
ㄧㄡˊ · yóu
prep — from, by way of; noun — cause
字源 FORM — what the parts do
由形rendered bare — no claimed origin
A closed 田-shape with one stem rising through the top. The word it writes is the source: 由 marks where a thing sets out from — 由此, 由於 owing to, 經由 by way of; a course set by oneself, 自由. As a sound it builds 油、宙、抽.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
田裡冒出一根芽——根還埋在土裡。
A shoot breaks the field's crust — the root still in the soil.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)從、經由— from; by way of常用
→理由、由於— cause, reason — what it sets out from常用
→自由— free — one's own course
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension