TSUMUGU · TOCFL B2 (est.) · 字
塑
塑 ＝ 土 ＋ 朔
ㄙㄨˋ · sù
verb — to mold, shape (in clay); noun — sculpture, plastic
字源 FORM — what the parts do
朔聲shuò — gives the soundthe new moon, the month begun fresh
FTshuò → sù — the new-moon sound reshaped
Clay (土) worked into a shape — to mold. 朔 shuò carries the sound, drifting to sù. Hands press wet earth into a figure; later the same word names the soft stuff that holds any shape pressed into it: 塑像、塑膠.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
一團濕土（土），手指一壓一推，慢慢長出一張臉。
A lump of wet earth (土); the fingers press and push, and a face slowly comes up out of it.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)塑造、塑像— to mold, shape; a sculpture常用
→塑膠、塑料— plastic — the moldable stuff常用
⇒塑性— plasticity — able to be shaped
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
溯sùshares — to trace back upstream, the same new-moon sound朔shuòthe sound it carries — the first day of the lunar month