Sinograph Addenda · Signs
味flavor · wèi · flavor, taste
flavor
Where it comes from
Your mouth 口mouth · kǒu · mouth; an opening for the meaning — flavor is mouth-business — and
未not-yet · wèi · not yet — the classical "still un-", wèi, for nothing but the sound of wèi. A character taught
one page earlier as “not yet” turns out to moonlight as a pure
syllable: the sound-borrowing move, caught in the act. Taught in
the roots-and-tips chapter.
How to remember it
The mouth knows what the tongue meets: flavor. The right
half is only there to say wèi — listen to it, don’t read it.
In the wild
為do · wéi · to do, to make; to act as; for無without · wú · without, there is not — the classical nothing為do · wéi · to do, to make; to act as; for，事work · shì · affair, work; to serve無without · wú · without, there is not — the classical nothing事work · shì · affair, work; to serve，味flavor · wèi · flavor, taste無without · wú · without, there is not — the classical nothing味flavor · wèi · flavor, taste。wéi wú wéi, shì wú shì, wèi wú wèi"act without acting, work without working, taste the flavorless" — the Laozi's triple paradox: do not force, do not strain, learn to relish the plain — closing on your character
Laozi 63.
urn:nabu:kanripo:KR5c0057:063:1a · license: attribution.