TSUMUGU · TOCFL B1 (est.) · 字
莫
莫 ＝ 茻 ＋ 日
ㄇㄛˋ · mò/mù
adv — do not, none, no one; (mù) dusk, evening (now written 暮)
字源 FORM — what the parts do
茻義grass all aroundthe top and bottom grass; the lower clump worn into 大 in the modern glyph
The sun (日) sinking into grass on every side (茻) — dusk, the original word for evening. That picture got borrowed for the negative "do not, none," and stuck; the dusk sense regrew a second sun as 暮. In the modern glyph the lower grass has worn into 大. As a sound 莫 heads a wide series: 慕、墓、暮、漠、寞、模.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
太陽（日）一寸寸沉進草叢（茻），天暗下來——這時候，莫出聲：別走。
The sun (日) sinks inch by inch into the grass (茻), the light going — and at dusk comes the word: don't.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
mò
(假借)莫管、莫非— do not; none, no one常用
→莫名其妙— nothing one can name — inexplicable常用
mù
(本義)日莫— dusk, evening — now written 暮
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
暮mùthe dusk sense regrown — 暮 adds a second sun under 莫; 莫 itself was the original evening慕＝ ＋ 心mùthe 莫 series — heart 心 beneath, to long for
演 · Evolution
原本下方的草（茻）磨損到看起來像大。日暮的意思被借來的否定詞擠走，只好再加一個日，另立為暮。
The lower grass of the original 茻 wore down until it reads as 大. The dusk sense, crowded out by the borrowed negative, took a second 日 and became 暮.