TSUMUGU · B2 (est.) · 字
薪
薪 ＝ 艸 ＋ 新
ㄒㄧㄣ · xīn
noun — firewood, fuel; salary, pay
字源 FORM — what the parts do
艸義grass, plant (the grass radical 艹)the 艹 cap — fuel cut from growing things
Fuel cut from growing things, so the grass cap (艹) sits over 新 xīn, which holds an axe (斤) to wood and lends the exact sound. The firewood comes first: 薪柴, 薪火. From the wages once paid in fuel, the modern sense: 薪水, 薪資, pay.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
草字頭（艹）下，斧頭（新裡的斤）剛劈好一捆柴——那是薪。
Under the grass cap (艹), an axe (the 斤 in 新) has just split a fresh bundle of firewood — that is 薪.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)薪柴、柴火— firewood, fuel
→薪水、薪資— salary, pay常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension