TSUMUGU · B2 (est.) · 字
陶
陶 ＝ 阝 ＋ 匋
ㄊㄠˊ · táo
noun/verb — pottery; to mold, to shape
字源 FORM — what the parts do
阝義a mound — the kiln slopethe left 阝 is 阜, a bank of earth
匋聲táo — gives the sounda person bent over a kiln-jar (缶) — making pottery
A bank of earth (阝) and 匋 — someone hunched over the clay vessel (缶) inside it; 匋 táo also carries the whole sound. The old graph carries two tellings: the kiln, where the mound is the bank a fire is built against and the whole word means the firing of clay — 陶器, the pottery; or 再成丘, a hill rising in two tiers, the mound 阜 stacked on itself. Either way the kiln picture is the one that holds the later senses — 陶冶, 陶醉, a person shaped and steeped the way clay is.
故事 STORY — a scene to remember it by
土窯（阝）邊，匋（匋）裡的人俯身轉著泥罐——一件陶器成形。
By the earth kiln (阝), the figure in 匋 bends over the turning clay — a pot taking shape.
字源記憶法
意 · Meanings
(本義)陶器、陶土— pottery; clay常用
→陶冶— to mold, to temper (a person)
⇒陶醉— to be steeped, intoxicated — soaked through like fired clay
(本義) original meaning · → ⇒ each arrow = one more step of extension
關 · Related
匋táothe sound half — bare 匋 is the potter over the jar; 陶 banks the kiln ()淘＝ 氵 ＋ táothe partner — 淘 washes with water (氵), 陶 fires beside the mound ()