TSUMUGU · TOCFL B2 (est.) · 字
蠻
蠻 ＝ 䜌 ＋ 虫
ㄇㄢˊ · mán
adj/adv — rough, unreasonable; quite, rather
字源 FORM — what the parts do
䜌聲luán — gives the soundtangled silk (絲) around 言 — knotted, disordered
IFluán → mán — the reading reshapes onto the snake-creature
虫義a creature — a snake-kind, in the old gloss
䜌 luán is silk tangled around words — knots and disorder — and it carries the sound. Under it the insect (虫), the snake-creature of the old gloss. From the tangled, the untamed: 野蠻、蠻橫.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
上面一團纏死的絲（䜌），下面一條蟲（虫）——理不清、馴不服。
A snarl of tangled silk (䜌) above, a creature (虫) below — nothing about it untangles or tames.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)南蠻— the southern tribes (old usage)
→野蠻、蠻橫— barbaric; unreasonable, willful常用
⇒蠻好、蠻不錯— quite, rather (colloquial)常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension