big-like, means like very much, be extremely fond of.
Above the kanji meaning big 大, which is a picture of a person with his arms outstretched, the Chinese added a barrier line 一 to signify that above a person is heaven with man in his place below. The final form of the new composite kanji is 天, meaning heaven or sky. When it forms a word by itself it is pronounced AMA. Used with other kanji in compound words it is pronounced TEN. 天体 TENTAI, heaven-body, means heavenly bodies, like the sun and the moon. A 天子 TENSHI, heaven-child, means the ruler of a nation.
Below the line for heaven ― the Chinese added horizontal lines for man ― and earth ― and unified them with a connecting vertical line ｜ symbolizing the king or ruler. They drew the kanji 王, meaning king. Used either by itself or in compound words it is pronounced Ō. A 女王, JO-Ō, woman-king, is a queen. An 王子, ŌJI, king-child, is a prince.
The Chinese put a cover over heaven, man, earth, and ruler 王 to symbolize everything, the whole, completely. They wrote the final kanji 全, meaning the whole or complete. Used as a word by itself it is pronounced MATTAKU (with the grammatical ending KU, indicating it is an adverb, written with a kana), an expressive word meaning completely, entirely, perfectly, totally, absolutely, or just the opposite: not at all, not in the least. In compound words it is pronounced ZEN. 全体 ZENTAI, whole-body, means all, the whole, generally. 全力 ZENRYOKU, whole-strength, means with all your might.
The Chinese doubled 大 big and made it , meaning very big. Then, instead of writing two bigs, one atop the other, they just used a ditto mark ヽ at the bottom of the first “big” and made the final kanji 太. It means fat or very big. It is pronounced FUTOI or FUTORU when it forms a word by itself. When it is used in compound words, 太 is pronounced TAI or TA.
The same man standing, this time with his arms pulled in toward his sides signified smallness. The Chinese drew it first , and then in final form 小. It means small, in the sense of size. Used by itself it is pronounced CHĪSAI (an adjective, needing two kana, SA and I to write CHĪSAI, since the kanji 小 itself only represents CHĪ). In compounds it is pronounced KO or SHŌ.
To symbolize “small” in the sense of quantity, meaning few, the Chinese drew a bottom under 小 small to indicate that that was it, nothing more. The final form was 少, meaning a few or a little. Used by itself it is pronounced SUKOSHI or SUKUNAI. Used in compound words with other kanji 少 is pronounced SHŌ.
The Chinese represented just plain “standing” by a person standing, this time not in the abstract but on the ground . They first squared it off to , and finally wrote it 立. It means to stand or to rise up. As a word by itself it is pronounced TATSU (the intransitive verb form, meaning stand up yourself), TATERU (the transitive verb form, meaning stand or raise something else up), or TACHI. Used in proper names it is generally pronounced TACHI. Used in compound words 立 is pronounced RITSU. The well-known electrical equipment manufacturer HITACHI, for example, is written 日立, sun-rise.
The Chinese wrote the number one with one flat horizontal line 一. They found it hard to simplify this pictograph, so never changed its shape. It is pronounced ICHI either in compound words or by itself. It can also be pronounced HITOTSU (with a kana, since the kanji 一 only provides the HITO sound) either in compound words or by itself.
The number two followed the same pattern and was written 二. It is pronounced NI, either in compound words or by itself. It can also be pronounced FUTATSU (again with a kana, since the kanji 二 only provides the FUTA sound) in compound words or by itself.
The number three was done the same, and was written 三. It is pronounced SAN either in compound words or by itself. 三 can also be pronounced MITSU (with a kana) in compound words or by itself.
The number five started out the same, with five flat horizontal lines . The Chinese found that there were too many horizontal lines to write clearly in a small space and, further, there was no way to draw them cursively with a brush in one continuous line without lifting the brush from the paper, so they took two of the lines and made them vertical 丑. Then they opened up the upper corner for aesthetic balance and wrote it 五. It is pronounced GO either in compound words or by itself. It can also be pronounced ITSUTSU (with a kana) in compound words or by itself.
The number four was pictured as four fingers balled into a fist . The Chinese first simplified it a bit to , and then in final form as 四. It is pronounced SHI either in compound words or by itself. 四 can also be pronounced YOTSU (with a kana) in compound words or by itself.
The number ten was pictured as the ten fingers of two crossed hands . The fingers took too long to write so the Chinese simplified the final form to just the cross 十. It is pronounced JŪ either in compound words or by itself. 十 also can be pronounced TŌ, either in compound words or by itself. In compound words it is also sometimes pronounced JITSU or JUTSU.
The Chinese connected three tens and underlined them with a one 一 to emphasize that thirty years was one life-span, one generation. They simplified it first to then squared it off to the final form 世, meaning a generation. Used as a word by itself it is pronounced YO. In compound words it is pronounced SE or SEI. A 二世 NISEI, two-generation, is a Nisei, a second-generation American, born in the USA, of Japanese parentage. An 一世 ISSEI (ICHISEI pronounced euphonically), one-generation, is an Issei, a first-generation Japanese who emigrated to the United States.
The Chinese tripled power 力力力 then multiplied by ten 十 to form the new composite kanji 協, many-strengths-together, meaning to unite, to join together in cooperation. 協 is not used as a word by itself. Used with other kanji in compound words it is pronounced KYŌ. The compound word 協力 KYŌRYOKU, unite-strength, means cooperation.
For number nine, the Chinese started with the number ten 十 and dropped one off to get down to number nine. They first wrote it as and finally squared it off to 九. (To “square off ” a pictograph means to line up and re-proportion the components to make it aesthetically pleasing and easy to read and write; in nine 九, the squaring off is done by rounding). It is pronounced KYŪ or KU either
big-like, means like very much, be extremely fond of.
