this, person

者 has an upper part that is a pictograph of fire burning wood or firewood, and a lower part that is a variant of 甘 (sweet, delicious). Food, especially meat, becomes more delicious after being heated over a wood fire, so the original meaning of 者 is cooking food. This meaning was later taken over by 煮. Because 者 is homophonous with 這 (this), it is used to refer to nearby people and things, or as a pronoun or substitute for people and matters.