TSUMUGU · B2 (est.) · 字
懸
ㄒㄩㄢˊ · xuán
verb — to hang, suspend; to be left unsettled
字源 FORM — what the parts do
縣聲xián — to hang (its older job); gives the sound — and the hanging itselfdual-role: 縣 first carried "hang" alone; left side 県 is an inverted head 首, hung from a cord 系 on the right
Txián → xuán — same family, the tone shifts
縣 once did the hanging by itself — a severed head (県, an inverted 首) strung up by a cord (系). When 縣 went off to mean "county," the heart (心) was added below for what hangs unresolved. So 懸掛 dangles, 懸案 stays open, 懸心 keeps the heart up in the air.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
一樣東西半空吊著（縣），落不下來，看的人一顆心（心）也跟著提起。
A thing hangs (縣) in mid-air, never landing, and the watcher's heart (心) hangs up there with it.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)懸掛、懸空— to hang, suspend常用
→懸案、懸而未決— left unsettled — hanging unresolved常用
⇒懸賞— to post a reward — to hang a prize up for the taking
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension