TSUMUGU · TOCFL 5 (est.) · 字
扎
扎 ＝ 扌 ＋ 乚
ㄓㄚ · zhā
verb — to prick, pierce; to plunge in, drive in (a needle, roots)
字源 FORM — what the parts do
扌義a hand — the action
乚空a bare hooked stroke — no agreed sound or sense here
A hand (扌) drives a point in — 扎, to prick or pierce. The right side is a single hooked stroke (乚) carrying no settled sound; 扎 sits outside any clean phonetic series. From piercing came plunging in and taking hold: 扎針 (give an injection), 扎根 (sink roots), and 掙扎, to struggle.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
一隻手（扌）捏著針，往下一送——扎進去了。
A hand (扌) holds the needle and pushes down — it goes in.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)刺、扎針— to prick, pierce常用
→扎根、扎進— to plunge in, sink in (roots)常用
→掙扎— to struggle (with 掙)
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
札zháthe lookalike — 木 not ; a wooden tablet, not a hand piercing掙＝ ＋ 爭zhēngits partner in 掙扎 — the straining half