Random meaning of 結ぶ


結ぶ means to connect, tie, or bind things together, either physically or
metaphorically. And then it has the seemingly random phrase `[実]{み}を結ぶ`
meaning "to bear fruit". How does this meaning derive from the "tie/bind"
meaning of 結ぶ and the 結 character in general?




I checked an Old Chinese corpus.

The Kanji 結 was used in the sense of _to form an abstract relationship_ about
2500 years ago, as in 結怨, 結親, 結好, etc.

It could also be used intransitively, like 怨結, 恩結, 気結, 冤結, etc., which sound
like _to clump/condense/congeal_ , but it only applied to abstract emotions.

It acquired the meaning _to bear_ no later than 400 AD. It not only applied to
fruits (結果, 結実, 結子), but also buds (結葩), roots (結根), and plants (結篠).
Meanwhile, I also found 結 was widely used for all kinds of things, such as 結霜
(frost) , 結氷 (ice), 結营 (building), 結党 (organization), 結謀 (plan), 結縁, etc.

In addition, Buddhist was largely introduced in China during that period.
Coincidentally, 結果 and 結縁 were used a lot in Buddhist scriptures. Also,
Chinese changed dramatically during 200-600 AD.

In conclusion, I do not see a direct relation between _ties_ and _stems_. The
derivation seems to be:

> to tie/braid -> to form/to be formed -> to make/to complete.

You may want to ask experts in the [Chinese Language Stack
Exchange](https://chinese.stackexchange.com/) for an authoritative answer.

As for the Japanese word むすぶ, I do not know what its original meaning is and
how it finally became the current meaning.

* * *

According to
[学研全訳古語辞典](http://kobun.weblio.jp/content/%E3%82%80%E3%81%99%E3%81%B6), it
means 結ぶ can mean 形作る or 形を成す.

> [一]自動詞バ行四段活用
>
> （霧・露・霜・水・泡などが）できる。生じる。形をなす。固まる。  
>  出典方丈記 「淀（よど）みに浮かぶうたかたは、かつ消えかつむすびて、久しくとどまりたる例（ためし）なし」
>
> [二]他動詞バ行四段活用
>
> ④（物を）作る。構える。編んで作る。組み立てる。  
>  出典方丈記 「六十（むそぢ）の露消えがたに及びて、更に末葉（すゑば）の宿りをむすべることあり」
>
> ⑤（状態・形を）かたちづくる。生じさせる。構成する。  
>  出典徒然草 一三〇 「始め興宴（きようえん）よりおこりて、長き恨みをむすぶ類（たぐひ）多し」

方丈記 and 徒然草 were written in about 1200 AD and 1300 AD. Since 訓読 had already
existed before those books were written, literate people must have used むすぶ to
translate 結 for quite a long time. I did not see this meaning used in 古事記 and
万葉集.

