四
=
儿
+
囗
:
Mnemonic symbol: a four-leaved clover. Socrates (s) is working out in the bathroom of the space station (Ø4). He's lifting four (四) wooden boxes (囗), and wonders why they are so heavy. He doesn't know that inside one of the four boxes, the monkey king (儿) is hiding and secretly laughing at him - until the monkey king comes out and surprises Socrates with a four-leaved clover (四).
the four tones of Middle Chinese: level tone 平聲|平声, rising tone 上聲|上声, departing tone 去聲|去声 and entering tone 入聲|入声 / the four tones of Modern Standard Mandarin
sound / voice / tone / noise / reputation / classifier for sounds
声
=
士
+
尸
+
丨
:
Sherlock Holmes (sh) hears the terrifying sound (声) of bone (丨) on stone in front of the engine ((e)ng1), and he's sure that there must be a ghost (尸). Indeed it's only the bachelor (士) who wants to scare Sherlock.
杜
=
土
+
木
:
Doggy Dog (du) finds that there is a Christmas tree (木) growing out of the dirt (土) in the space stations bathroom (Ø4). With a sigh he nips the tree in the bud (杜) and stops (杜) it from growing while it is still small.
birchleaf pear (tree) / to stop / to prevent / to restrict
杜
=
土
+
木
:
Doggy Dog (du) finds that there is a Christmas tree (木) growing out of the dirt (土) in the space stations bathroom (Ø4). With a sigh he nips the tree in the bud (杜) and stops (杜) it from growing while it is still small.