多分
たぶん · tabun · JLPT N5 · adverb
maybe
多分 = many (多) + parts (分): most parts point that way, so probably
多 means many and 分 means part or share. If the larger share of the evidence leans one way, the thing is probably true. Sound hook: tabun is like a tab unpaid — it will probably get settled, maybe.
多 — two 夕 (evening) stacked
多 originally depicted two pieces of meat (夕, a variant of 肉) stacked together, suggesting abundance. Over time it was reanalyzed as two 'evenings' piled up — many evenings meaning many days, hence 'many, much'. The doubling itself conveys quantity.
分 — knife 刀 + eight 八 (split apart)
分 originally depicted a knife (刀) cutting something into two parts, shown by 八 above (which itself meant 'divide'). The core sense is 'to divide' or 'split', from which extended meanings like 'portion', 'minute', and 'part' developed. Pronounced fèn, it carries the sense of an allotted share.