TSUMUGU · TOCFL 1 · 字
真
ㄓㄣ · zhēn
adj/adv — real, true; really
字源 FORM — what the parts do
真形rendered bare — no settled origin
Real, true — and as an adverb, really: 真好、真的. The old graph carries two tellings: a ladle filling a cauldron — packed full, solid, the first form of 填 — or 說文's picture, an immortal transformed and rising to heaven. Solid to the bottom or heaven-high: both land on real.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
勺子一勺一勺往鼎裡填，填到滿——實實在在。
Ladle by ladle the cauldron fills — packed to the brim, solid through.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)真、真實— real, true常用
→真的、真好— really — the adverb
⇒認真— taking it for real — earnest
⇒天真— heaven-real — innocent, naive
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension