窮 (qióng) — poor; to exhaust, run to the end

entries → 窮

TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字

窮 character · TOCFL 2 (est.)

窮＝穴＋躬

ㄑㄩㄥˊ · qióng

adj/verb — poor; to exhaust, run to the end

字源 FORM — what the parts do

穴義a cave, a hole

躬聲gōng — gives the sounda body (身) bent over (弓) — bowing

{k,g,q,x}ITgōng → qióng — the back-vowel initial fronts to q, tone moves

A body bent double (躬) crammed into the far end of a cave (穴) — nowhere left to go. 躬 gōng carries the sound, its initial fronting to q. Backed against the wall: 貧窮、窮盡、無窮.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

人彎著腰（躬）鑽到洞（穴）的最深處——前面就是石壁了。

A man bent double (躬), crawled to the deepest end of the cave (穴) — ahead, only rock.

字源記憶法

意 · Meanings

(本義)極、盡頭— the far end; exhausted

→窮盡、無窮— to run to the end; endless常用

⇒貧窮— poor — out of means常用

(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension