TSUMUGU · C1 (est.) · 字
賤
賤 ＝ 貝 ＋ 戔
ㄐㄧㄢˋ · jiàn
adj — cheap, of low price; lowly, base
字源 FORM — what the parts do
戔聲gives the soundjiān — two 戈 (spears) hacking, leaving little; drifted to jiàn
Tjiān → jiàn — tone shifted off the donor
Worth (貝) pared down to little — a low price. 戔 carries the sound jiān, tipped to jiàn, and its own picture — two spears hacking away, leaving scraps — runs into the sense of small, slight. From low price: 賤價 cheap, 貧賤 poor and lowly, 賤視 to look down on. 戔 leans toward meaning as well as sound.
意 · Meanings
(本義)賤、賤價— cheap, of low price常用
→貧賤、卑賤— poor and lowly, base常用
→賤視— to despise, to look down on
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension