entries → 墨
TSUMUGU · B2 (est.) · 字
墨 character · B2 (est.)
墨 ＝ 黑 ＋ 土
ㄇㄛˋ · mò
noun — ink; ink-stick

字源 FORM — what the parts do

黑聲hēi — gives the sound and the coloursoot above a flame, the meaning rides along
IFThēi → mò — the reading has drifted from the donor
土義earth — soot ground and bound into a solid cake
Soot (黑) carries both the black and the sound, bound with earth (土) into a hard cake. 黑 reads hēi, drifted far to mò. Ground on a stone it becomes ink: 墨水、墨汁、筆墨.

故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by

一塊黑（黑）煙土（土）壓成餅，硯上一磨——化開成墨。
A cake of soot (黑) and earth (土), ground on the stone — and it runs as ink.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)墨、墨塊— ink; ink-stick常用
→墨水、墨汁— ink (liquid)常用
⇒筆墨、墨跡— writing and painting; ink-traces
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
黑hēithe sound-and-colour half — 墨 sets 土 below, 黑 alone is the colour默＝ 犬 ＋ 黑mòthe 黑 sibling — 默 takes the dog 犬 for silence, 墨 takes 土 for ink