TSUMUGU · B1 (est.) · 字
占
占 ＝ 卜 ＋ 口
ㄓㄢˋ · zhàn/zhān
verb — (zhàn) to occupy, take up, hold; (zhān) to divine, tell fortunes
字源 FORM — what the parts do
卜義a divining crack — the line read in a heated bone
A crack from divination (卜) and a mouth (口) reading what it says — to tell the omen aloud. That is 占 zhān, to divine. From staking a claim by the oracle, the sense hardens to zhàn: to occupy, to hold ground — 占據, 占有, 占用.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
龜甲上一道裂紋（卜），嘴巴（口）對著它把吉凶說出來——占。
A crack runs across the shell (卜); a mouth (口) reads the fortune aloud from it — divining.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
zhān
(本義)占卜、占卦— to divine, tell fortunes常用
zhàn
(引申)占據、占有— to occupy, hold常用
→占用、占便宜— to take up, take advantage
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension