麼 (me/mó) — question-word tail (什麼); (mó) tiny

entries → 麼

TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 (est.) · 字

麼 character · TOCFL 1 (est.)

麼＝麻＋幺

˙ㄇㄜ · me/mó

particle — question-word tail (什麼); (mó) tiny

字源 FORM — what the parts do

麻聲má — gives the sound

FTmá → mó, worn all the way down to a light me in 什麼

幺義a thread-end — smallness

A wisp of thread (幺) for smallness, 麻 má for the sound — the original word is tiny (幺麼). In 什麼 the character is on loan, its sound worn down to a light me.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

一截線頭（幺），細得快看不見。

A thread-end (幺), almost too small to see.

字源記憶法

意 · Meanings

(假借)什麼、怎麼、這麼— question-word tail — a sound-loan常用

mó

(本義)幺麼— tiny, insignificant

(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension