TSUMUGU · B1 (est.) · 字
蓋
蓋 ＝ 艹 ＋ 盍
ㄍㄞˋ · gài
verb — to cover, build (roof over); noun — a lid, cover; conj — (literary) for, because
字源 FORM — what the parts do
艹義grass, thatch — the old roofing
盍聲hé — gives the sounda lid 大 set down over a dish 皿 — to close over
{g,k,h}IThé → gài — the {g,k,h} crossing; tone shifts too
Thatch (艹) laid over a frame — to cover, to roof. 盍 hé carries the sound and the same idea drawn small: a lid 大 set down onto a vessel 皿, sealing it. From the thatch cover come all the coverings: 蓋子、覆蓋、掩蓋, and stamping a seal down onto paper — 蓋章.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
一把茅草（艹）蓋下去，像個蓋子（盍）扣在器皿上——嚴實了。
A handful of thatch (艹) comes down like a lid (盍) onto a dish — sealed tight.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)苫、覆蓋— thatch; to cover over常用
→蓋子— a lid, cover常用
→蓋章、蓋房子— to stamp down; to build (roof over)
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
盍héthe bare phonetic — 盍 stands alone (a lid on a dish, also "why not"); 蓋 adds grass 益yìthe 皿-bottom lookalike — 益 spills water over the dish 皿 (benefit), 蓋 closes a lid over it