TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 (est.) · 字
白
ㄅㄞˊ · bái
adj — white; plain, clear; in vain
字源 FORM — what the parts do
白形a single graph — a grain of rice, or dawn's first ray, by the telling
The old graph carries two tellings: a grain of rice, white once the husk is off — or the sun (日) with one ray breaking over it, the first pale light before dawn. White, then plain and undyed: 白話 plain speech, 明白 seen clear; and what comes back plain, with nothing on it, is 白費、白跑 — for nothing.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
天還黑著，東邊先白出一線。
The sky still dark, and along the east one pale line breaks first.
字源
意 · Meanings
(本義)白色— white常用
→明白、白話— plain, clear — undyed speech
⇒白費、白跑— in vain — coming back with nothing on it
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension