扮 (bàn) — to dress up as, play (a role); to make up

entries → 扮

TSUMUGU · TOCFL 2 (est.) · 字

扮 character · TOCFL 2 (est.)

扮＝扌＋分

ㄅㄢˋ · bàn

verb — to dress up as, play (a role); to make up

字源 FORM — what the parts do

扌義the hand

分聲fēn — gives the sounddividing, split in two

{b,p,f}IFTfēn → bàn — the {b,p,f} crossing carries the rest

The hand (扌) makes someone over into another look. 分 fēn carries the sound, the f crossed to b. To dress up, to play a part: 打扮、扮演、假扮.

手（扌）替演員上妝，分（分）出一張新面孔——上台扮別人。

The hand (扌) paints the actor's face, parting (分) off a new one — and onstage he is someone else.

字源記憶法

意 · Meanings

(本義)打扮、化妝— to dress up, make up

→扮演— to play (a role)常用

⇒假扮、扮成— to pose as, pretend to be

(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension