TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字
原
原 ＝ 厂 ＋ 泉
ㄩㄢˊ · yuán
noun/adj — source; original; plain
字源 FORM — what the parts do
厂義a cliff
A spring (泉) under the cliff (厂) — water starting out of the rock; together they write the source. The river's first water stands for everything's first state: 原來, 原因, 原本. The water sense later got its own graph back, 源. 原 also names broad level land — 平原, 草原.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
崖（厂）下一眼泉（泉），水冒出來——河從這裡起頭。
Under the cliff (厂) a spring (泉) wells up — the river starts here.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)水源（今寫作源）— the spring — the sense now written 源
→原來、原因、原本— the origin; original常用
→平原、草原— broad level land — the plain
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
演 · Evolution
早期字形崖下畫的是完整的泉；楷書磨成白加小。
Early graphs draw the spring whole under the cliff; the standard script wears it to 白 over 小.