賦 (fù) — to levy, to grant, to endow — noun — a tax; a rhapsody (a poetic form)

entries → 賦

TSUMUGU · B2 (est.) · 字

賦 character · B2 (est.)

賦＝貝＋武

ㄈㄨˋ · fù

verb — to levy, to grant, to endow — noun — a tax; a rhapsody (a poetic form)

字源 FORM — what the parts do

貝義a cowrie, levied wealth

武聲gives the soundwǔ — drifted to fù

IFTwǔ → fù — initial, final and tone all moved off the donor

Wealth (貝) gathered in under arms — to levy, to collect. 武 carries the sound wǔ, worn far to fù. From taking in, the sense turns to handing out: 賦稅 a tax, then 賦予 to grant, 天賦 an inborn gift. As a literary form, 賦 is the laid-out rhapsody.

意 · Meanings

(本義)賦、賦稅— to levy; a tax常用

→賦予、天賦— to grant, to endow; an innate gift常用

⇒辭賦— a rhapsody, a rhymed prose form

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