TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 · 字
歌
ㄍㄜ · gē
noun — a song; verb — to sing
字源 FORM — what the parts do
哥聲gē — gives the sound, exactlytwo 可 stacked; the old graph of this very word, before it left to mean brother
Breath pours from an open mouth (欠) — song. 哥 gives the sound exactly, and it is the song's own older graph, two 可 stacked; when 哥 went off to mean elder brother, the song added the open mouth and kept singing: 唱歌、歌手.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
他仰起頭，張口（欠）把調子送出去，巷子那頭有人接著哼。
Head back, mouth open (欠), he sends the tune down the lane — and someone hums it back.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)歌— a song常用
→唱歌— to sing
→歌手、歌星— the singer
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension