The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji. Kenneth G. Henshall

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      DAI, TAI, ōkii, ō-

      big

      3 strokes

      大会 TAIKAI assembly

      大学 DAIGAKU university

      大声 ō goe loud voice

      Based on a pictograph of a mature person or one with arms and legs outstretched , used in an extended sense to mean ‘big’. SS1984:570; QX2000:4; KJ1970:724-5.

      Mnemonic: PERSON SPREADS ARMS AND LEGS TO LOOK BIG

      57

      L5

      男

      DAN, NAN, otoko

      man, male

      7 strokes

      男子 DANSHI boy

      長男 CHŌNAN eldest son

      男気 otokogi gallantry

      OBI ; made up of 田 63 ‘field’ and 力 78 ‘strength’. The latter may at one stage have represented a plow, but most early forms show an arm and field , associated with males working in the fields. Other analyses are possible: Yamada and Katō, for example, take 田 as phonetic, with an associated sense ‘endure’, while Tōdō includes the whole graph in his word-family meaning ‘bring in’, on the basis that traditionally China was a matriarchal society in which women brought men into the family through marriage. SS1984:584-5; GY2008:435; YK1976:352-3; TA1965:800-04; KJ1985:415.

      Mnemonic: MAN PROVIDES STRENGTH IN FIELD

      58

      L3

      竹

      CHIKU, take

      bamboo

      6 strokes

      爆竹 BAKUCHIKU firecracker

      竹馬 takeuma stilts

      竹やぶ takeyabu bamboo grove

      Often seen as bamboo segments, which is a good mnemonic but incorrect. OBI shows it to be based on a pictograph of a bamboo plant, which Mizukami and Katō identify as a low, striped variety. Later used for bamboo in general. In compound graphs, . MS1995:v2:986-7; MR2007:307; KJ1970:694.

      Mnemonic: TWO BAMBOO SEGMENTS

      59

      L5

      中

      CHŪ, naka

      middle, inside, China/Sino-

      4 strokes

      中立 CHŪRITSU neutrality

      中国 CHŪGOKU China

      真ん中 mannaka very middle

      OBI forms show two categories: a) similar to the modern equivalent, and b) a shape similar to a) but with streamer-like attachments, generally interpreted as a banner with streamers. The graph’s basic meaning is ‘middle, inside’, and by extension ‘hit the center’. Schuessler, however, feels this extended meaning is from a word of similar but different pronunciation from that for ‘middle’ in early Chinese (1_st – 2_nd century AD). SS1984:593; KJ1970:699-700; AS2007:621, 44; BK1957:264-5.

      Mnemonic: CHINESE LANCE PIERCES MIDDLE OF TARGET

      60

      L3

      虫

      CHŪ, mushi

      insect, worm

      6 strokes

      寄生虫 KISEICHŪ parasite

      害虫 GAICHŪ harmful insect

      虫歯 mushiba decayed tooth

      The OBI form is based on a pictograph of a snake. According to Qiu, later a semantic shift occurred, as the antecedent of 虫 was already being used to represent the current meaning ‘insect’ (in the broad sense) – as in modern Japanese – in Qin and Han times. QX2000:177; AS2007:287. As a mnemonic suggest a rearing hooded snake.

      Mnemonic: HOODED SNAKE REARS TO CATCH AN INSECT

      61

      L4

      町

      CHŌ, machi

      town, block

      7 strokes

      町民 CHŌMIN townspeople

      町役場 machiYAKUba town office

      下町 shitamachi downtown

      Of late provenance (Shuowen); 田 63 is ‘field’, and 丁 367 (originally ‘nail’, now ‘block [area]’) is phonetic, with an associated meaning ‘tread’. The original meaning was ‘path between fields’, and this is retained in modern Chinese. In Japan, ‘path between fields’ was still the associated meaning in the early 10th century, but by that period it had also come to mean a settlement of dwellings beside a road, and on that basis we have the modern Japanese meaning of ‘town, city’. SS1984:600; KJ1970:915; YK1976:365.

      Mnemonic: TOWN AT T-JUNCTION NEXT TO FIELD

      62

      L5

      天

      TEN, ama-, ame

      heaven

      4 strokes

      天使 TENSHI angel

      天皇 TENNŌ emperor

      天下り amakudari heavenly descent

      The OBI and bronze forms

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