What is the character etymology of 着 ?


着 as in [着る]{きる}. I have tried looking up the kanji at Richard Sear's [Chinese
Etymology](http://chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?submitButton1=Etymology&characterInput=%E7%9D%80)
site, [Wictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%9D%80) and other sites.
Every one of them points to a variant, 著 but offer no explanation as to why it
means wear and write at the same time ?

Richard Sear's Chinese Etymology,

> Primitive pictograph 着著. From bamboo 艹竹 and words 曰 and remnant of bamboo
> scroll threaded together. Original meaning to write.

Wictionary,

> This character, 着, is the simplified and variant traditional form of 著

All I know is that the top part of the kanji is grass radical according to
wictionary and rest of the part is a phonetic.

Why does the same Kanji mean wear and write ? Where can I find more
information about how the kanji evolved to mean seemingly unrelated things ?
Why Japanese only took the meaning related to wearing something and dropped
the meaning which means to write?




The "wear" and "write" definitions of 著 are in fact different words (and we
don't use the kanji for "wear" anymore). Moreover, as you said, the true old
form has the Bamboo radical on the head, in other words, is today's 箸. The
kanji is made of 竹 and 者, where 者 indicates the pronunciation. Thus this kanji
once became a carpool of several similar-sounding words.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6gvoj.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6gvoj.gif)

  * チョ／はし{HL} (OC [_*[d]rak-s_](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%AE%B8#Pronunciation)): "chopsticks" → today's **箸**
  * チョ／あらわす・いちじるしい (OC [_*trak-s_](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%91%97#Pronunciation_3)): "to write, to author, written, evident" → **著**
  * チャク／きる{LH}・[つく]{HL} (OC [_*m-trak_](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%91%97#Pronunciation_1)): "put on, turn on, get on" → **着**

Note that the distinction of 著 and 着 is tradition in Japan and PRC. Taiwan
only recognizes 著 as the proper form for both.

着 was originally handwriting variant of 著. The top part 䒑 was a common
variation of 艹 (くさかんむり; radical Grass on the top) now becomes non-standard.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UW8GC.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UW8GC.jpg)  
(<http://tonan.seesaa.net/article/75499554.html>)




The "wear" and "write" definitions of 著 are in fact different words (and we
don't use the kanji for "wear" anymore). Moreover, as you said, the true old
form has the Bamboo radical on the head, in other words, is today's 箸. The
kanji is made of 竹 and 者, where 者 indicates the pronunciation. Thus this kanji
once became a carpool of several similar-sounding words.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6gvoj.gif)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/6gvoj.gif)

  * チョ／はし{HL} (OC [_*[d]rak-s_](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E7%AE%B8#Pronunciation)): "chopsticks" → today's **箸**
  * チョ／あらわす・いちじるしい (OC [_*trak-s_](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%91%97#Pronunciation_3)): "to write, to author, written, evident" → **著**
  * チャク／きる{LH}・[つく]{HL} (OC [_*m-trak_](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%91%97#Pronunciation_1)): "put on, turn on, get on" → **着**

Note that the distinction of 著 and 着 is tradition in Japan and PRC. Taiwan
only recognizes 著 as the proper form for both.

着 was originally handwriting variant of 著. The top part 䒑 was a common
variation of 艹 (くさかんむり; radical Grass on the top) now becomes non-standard.

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UW8GC.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/UW8GC.jpg)  
(<http://tonan.seesaa.net/article/75499554.html>)

