woman’s heart
| SAMPLE SENTENCE: | |||
| 女王 | によると | 愛国心 | は |
| JO.Ō | ni yoru to | AI.KOKU.SHIN | wa |
| queen | according to | patriotism |
| 大切 | だ | そう | です。 |
| TAI.SETSU | da | sō | desu. |
| important | is | ||
| = According to the queen, patriotism is important. |
KANJI #26
| 国 | COUNTRY |
Meaning
Think of “country” here in the sense of a nation state.
Remembering this kanji
Most folks will state that their COUNTRY is like a jewel, one that must be protected from external dangers. And so they build walls. But is there a difference between being protected and being in prison? It’s a thorny question, but perhaps the philosopher Epicurus answered it best: “There may be a jewel of a COUNTRY within prison walls somewhere, but I’d be willing to bet they’d have lousy food.”
Common Pronunciations
Common ON reading: KOKU (コク)
Common kun reading: kuni (くに)
kun-yomi suggestion: “tycoon era”
Create your on-yomi keyword and enter it in the table at the back of the book. After that, write your sentence to remember the on-yomi and kun-yomi readings in the box below.
Less Common Pronunciations
Less common ON reading: none
Less Common kun reading: none
| COMMON WORDS AND COMPOUNDS | ||
| 国 | country | kuni くに |
| 王国 | king + country = kingdom | Ō.KOKU ォゥ.コク |
| 全国 | complete + country = the whole country/ nationwide | ZEN.KOKU ゼン.コク |
| 入国 | enter + country = to enter a country | NYŪ.KOKU ニュゥ.コク |
| 国内 | country + inside = domestic | KOKU.NAI コク.ナイ |
| 外国人 | outside + country + person = foreigner | GAI.KOKU.JIN ガイ.コク.ジン |
| 愛国心 | love + country + heart = patriotism | AI.KOKU.SHIN アイ.コク.シン |
| SAMPLE SENTENCE: | ||||||
| あの | 国 | に | は | 外国人 | が | 多い。 |
| ano | kuni | ni | wa | GAI.KOKU.JIN | ga | ō.i. |
| that | country | foreigners | many | |||
| = There are many foreigners in that country. |
COMPONENT #27
KANJI #27
| 全 | COMPLETE |
Meaning
This kanji expresses the idea of wholeness and completion. Note in the sample compounds how both the first and third entries can have different connotations. Although the context will usually make the meaning clear, such ambiguity is a common feature of Japanese.
Remembering this kanji
“You might imagine that the king’s umbrella bearer has a job that even a COMPLETE idiot could do. Well, you’re wrong, because you’d better not let the king get wet. Sadly, I learned this the hard way, for one afternoon the umbrella I chose had a hole, and a drop of moisture sprinkled the king’s robe. That was enough to leave me dangling in the dungeon for a week. A tyrant king, you say? Perhaps, but the lesson I learned that day has remained with me forever: the umbrella must COMPLETELY cover the king.”
Common Pronunciations
Common ON reading: ZEN (ゼン)
Common kun reading: none
Given that “Zen” (as in Buddhism) is one of the few Japanese words to have entered the English language, feel free to take advantage of this by using it to remember this reading.
