TSUMUGU · A2 (est.) · 字
亞
ㄧㄚˋ · yà
noun/adj — second; sub-; (loan) Asia
字源 FORM — what the parts do
亞形rendered bare — two tellings, no settled origin
The old graph carries two tellings: a hunched figure, the back bent — from which inferior, second-rate; or the cross-shaped floor-plan of a tomb chamber, the squared-off ground. Either way the modern sense settles on second: 亞軍 runner-up, 亞洲 Asia (a sound loan). As a sound it seeds 惡.
意 · Meanings
(本義)次一等、第二— second; inferior常用
→亞軍— runner-up — second place常用
→亞洲、亞細亞— Asia — a sound loan常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension