TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
強
強 ＝ 虫 ＋ 弘
ㄑㄧㄤˊ · qiáng/qiǎng/jiàng
adj — strong; (qiǎng) to force; (jiàng) stubborn
字源 FORM — what the parts do
虫義an insect
弘聲hóng — gives the sounda bow (弓) — it still stands at the left edge
IF≠hóng → qiáng — worn far from the donor
An insect (虫) with 弘 hóng for sound — the word is a grain weevil, the hard-shelled thing in the rice jar. "Strong" had its own character, 彊, the drawn bow; the weevil's graph took the word over, and 弘's bow (弓) still stands at the left edge.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
米缸見底，缸底還爬著一隻小蟲（虫）——殼硬，捏不破。
The rice jar scraped empty, and at the bottom a small beetle (虫) still crawls — hard-shelled, uncrushable.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
qiáng
(本義)米蟲— a grain weevil
→強壯、強大、加強— strong — the word of 彊, borrowed onto this graph常用
qiǎng
(引申)勉強、強迫— to force — strength applied against the grain常用
jiàng
(引申)倔強— stubborn — strength that won't bend
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
弱ruòthe opposite — bows bent soft弘hóngthe sound donor — the bow at 強's left edge