TSUMUGU · C1 (est.) · 字
焰
焰 ＝ 火 ＋ 臽
ㄧㄢˋ · yàn
noun — flame, blaze; the tongue of a fire
字源 FORM — what the parts do
臽聲xiàn — gives the sounda person dropping into a pit — worn into the right side; sound drifted xiàn → yàn
IFxiàn → yàn — the same series as 陷
Fire (火) on the left, and on the right the part that carries the sound. The old graph carries two tellings: one writes 臽 xiàn for the sound, worn from xiàn toward yàn — the 臽 of 陷, a person dropping into a pit; the other reads 焰 as a variant of 燄, 火 over 僉 qiān for the sound. Either way the flame is the part of the fire that licks upward and away — 火焰、烈焰; set loose for show, 焰火.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
火（火）堆裡，最尖的那一條往上舔——那就是焰。
In the fire (火), the sharpest tongue licks upward — that is the flame.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)火焰— flame, the tongue of fire常用
→烈焰、焰火— blaze; fireworks
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension