TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 (est.) · 字
著
著 ＝ 艹 ＋ 者
˙ㄓㄜ · zhe/zhuó/zháo/zhù
particle — ongoing state (走著); (zhuó) to attach, wear; (zháo) to catch; (zhù) marked, famous
字源 FORM — what the parts do
艹空grass on top — the worn remainder of bamboo (竹), from 箸
FTzhě → zhuó、zháo、zhù、zhe — the zh- holds; the finals scatter
者 zhě gives the sound under a grass top (艹) — the grass is bamboo (竹) worn flat, and the whole graph began as a loose way of writing 箸, chopsticks. The verb it came to carry is to set on, to stick — one verb worn into four readings: zhuó where things attach (附著、穿著), zháo where they catch (睡著、著火), zhù where they stand fixed and seen (顯著、著名), and the weightless zhe trailing whatever is still going (走著、隨著).
意 · Meanings
zhe
(引申)走著、隨著— the weightless tail of an ongoing act常用
zhuó
(本義)附著、著地— to stick, to touch down
→穿著— to wear — clothes set on
zháo
(引申)睡著、著火— to catch — sleep caught, fire caught常用
zhù
(引申)顯著、著名— fixed in sight — striking, famous
→著作— writings — set down to stay
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
箸zhùthe parent graph — bamboo chopsticks; 著's was 竹者zhěthe donor — it also builds 都、煮、豬