TSUMUGU · B1 (est.) · 字
私
私 ＝ 禾 ＋ 厶
ㄙ · sī
adj/noun — private, personal; selfish
字源 FORM — what the parts do
禾義grain — one's own crop
厶聲sī — gives the soundan arm curled inward, closing around oneself
Grain (禾) with 厶, which lends the sound sī — and 厶 is itself the old graph for "self," an arm hooked inward to enclose. One's own grain, held back from the common store. From the private crop comes everything kept to oneself: 私人、私下、私有, against 公 the public.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
一個人把禾（穀子）用手臂（厶）摟向自己，不分出去——私。
A person hooks the grain (禾) inward with a curled arm (厶), keeping it back — private.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)私有、私人— private, one's own常用
→私下、隱私— in private; what's kept hidden常用
⇒自私、私心— selfish, self-serving
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
公＝ 八 ＋ gōngthe opposite — 公 splits open (八 over ) to share out; 私 keeps it curled in厶sīthe phonetic and old self-graph — 厶 alone is the inward-curling arm; 私 adds