TSUMUGU · TOCFL C1 (est.) · 字
陝
陝 ＝ 阜 ＋ 㚒
ㄕㄢˇ · shǎn
noun — the Shan Pass; short for Shaanxi (陝西)
字源 FORM — what the parts do
阜義the mound, a row of hillswritten 阝 on the left
㚒聲shǎn — gives the soundtwo small figures (人人) tucked beside a big one (大); the simplified 陕 rewrites this top as 夾
A row of hills (阜, written 阝) at a narrow place — the Shan Pass in old Shanzhou, where the Yellow River breaks through onto the plain. 㚒 (shǎn) carries the sound: two small figures (人人) pressed against a big one (大), the squeeze of the gorge. The province west of that pass took the name: 陝西. The lookalike 陜 is the gorge as "narrow" itself.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
兩個小人擠在大人身邊（㚒），身後一排山丘（阝）——黃河只能從這道窄口擠出去。
Two small figures squeezed beside a big one (㚒), a wall of hills behind (阝) — the river forced out through this one narrow gate.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)陝塬、陝津— the Shan Pass, the river gorge
→陝西— Shaanxi — the province west of the pass常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
陜xiáthe near-twin — 陜 (U+965C) reads "narrow"; 陝 names the pass and the province峽xiáthe gorge with mountain 山 — 陝's pass cut through hills; 峽 is the canyon itself