TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
傳
傳 ＝ 亻 ＋ 專
ㄔㄨㄢˊ · chuán/zhuàn
verb — to pass on, transmit; (zhuàn) noun — biography, record
字源 FORM — what the parts do
亻義a person
{zh,ch,sh}ITzhuān → chuán — a step inside {zh,ch,sh}; tone shifts too
A person (亻) with 專 zhuān for sound, zh stepped to ch — the old word for the post relay: riders and stations passing the dispatch person to person down the line. Whatever moves hand to hand is 傳: 傳給、流傳、傳統. Read zhuàn, it is the record handed down — 傳記, the written life.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
驛站前馬不停蹄，騎手把信交到下一個人（亻）手裡——信比人先到。
At the relay station the horses never stop; the rider drops the letter into the next man's (亻) hands — the letter outruns them all.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
chuán
(本義)驛傳— the post relay
→傳給、流傳— to pass on, hand down常用
⇒傳統、傳說— tradition, legend — what keeps getting passed
zhuàn
(引申)傳記、自傳— biography — the record handed down常用
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension