as phonetic with associated sense ‘move limbs rapidly’, and so ‘run’ (Qiu says ‘jog, trot’, Tōdō says ‘walk hurriedly’). Modern Japanese preserves the meaning ‘run’ from early Chinese, but in modern Chinese (Mandarin) 走 means ‘walk/go’. MS1995:v2:1254-6; KJ1970:643-4; QX2000:196; TA1965:298-9. Suggest taking upper element as 土 64 ‘ground’, and lower element as ‘foot’ (see 143).
Mnemonic: FOOT RUNNING ALONG GROUND
180
L5
多
TA, ōi
many
6 strokes
多数 TASŪ majority
多面的 TAMENTEKI many-sided
多過ぎ ōsugi too much/many
OBI form is , depicting one piece of meat 肉/月 209 over another and giving the meanings ‘meat piled up, plentiful meat; plentiful’. Shuowen (along with Katō) analyzes it as 夕 46 ‘moon/evening’ duplicated, but this would appear to be based on the later, very similar seal script shapes: the graphs for ‘meat’ and ‘evening’ are more contrastive in OBI. MS1995:v1:292-3; MR2007:360; SS1984:559-60; KJ1985:142. We suggest taking ‘evening / moon’ 夕 for an easier mnemonic.
Mnemonic: MANY MOONS, MANY EVENINGS
181
L4
太
TAI, TA, futoi, futoru
fat, big
4 strokes
太子 TAISHI prince
太陽 TAIYŌ sun
太字 futoJI bold type
A very late graph (Yupian). Noted in the Kangxi zidian as identical with both 大 56 and 泰 1665, meaning ‘big’. Tōdō includes it in a word family meaning ‘loose; latitude’. Katō sees the extra stroke as denoting especially big even among other big things. DJ2009:v1:195; TA1965:525-7; Katō 1985:144.
Mnemonic: FAT IS A BIT MORE THAN JUST BIG
182
L4
体
TAI, TEI, karada
body
7 strokes
体格 TAIKAKU physique
風体 FŪTEI posture
体付き karadatsuki figure
Bronze ; seal ; traditional 體. Has 骨 877 ‘bone’, and 豊 811 (‘abundant’) as phonetic with associated sense i] ‘separate, divide’, giving ‘divide up sacrificial animal carcasse (still with bones attached)’ (Katō), or ii] ‘neatly set out’, giving ‘sacrificial animal carcass with dismembered parts neatly set out’ (noted in Mizukami). The simpler form 体 originally represented a separate word of different pronunciation meaning ‘coarse’, but it appears 体 was adopted later (Ming Dynasty) in popular usage as an abbreviated writing for 體 ‘body’, probably regarded as 亻/人 41 ‘person’ combined with 本 74 ‘basis’. Noted in Kangxi zidian as erroneous in this latter sense, 体 was adopted as official form in the modern period in Japan. QX2000:299, 306-7; ZY2009:v1:21:v4:1567-8; MS1995:v2:1476-7.
Mnemonic: THE BODY IS THE BASIS OF A PERSON
183
L4
台
DAI, TAI
stand, platform
5 strokes
土台 DODAI foundation
台風 TAIFŪ typhoon
台所 DAIdokoro kitchen
Seal ; traditional 臺. Analyses differ. In one view, 壴 ‘big drum’ over 至 886 (‘arrive’) with the sense ‘foot, base’ gives ‘drum stand’ (Ogawa). In another view, upper element is taken as ‘watchtower’ over 至 meaning ‘stay’, giving ‘place to stay and watch out’, i.e. ‘watchtower’ (Mizukami). Later abbreviated shape 台 coincides with a separate graph 台 (originally ‘I, me’ [口 22 ‘mouth, speak’, and 厶 ‘enclose and make one’s own’ as phonetic meaning ‘oneself’]). OT1968:163; MS1995:v2:1092-3,v1:204-5
Mnemonic: A NOSE IS A SORT OF PLATFORM FOR A MOUTH
184
L4
地
CHI, JI
ground, land
6 strokes
地方 CHIHŌ region
地下 CHIKA underground
地元 JImoto locality
Seal . Late graph (Shuowen). Has 土 64 ‘ground’, and 也 (NJK; see Note below) as phonetic with associated sense ‘extend in a meandering way’ (Mizukami); Katō and Tōdō are in broad agreement. Note: 也 was originally pictograph of a slithering snake or – in one view – female genitalia (noted in Mizukami); later borrowed for sound value for several grammatical function words such as ‘be’, ‘also’. MS1995:v1:264-5,24-5; KJ1970:692; TA1965:455-57.
Mnemonic: LAND WITH WRIGGLING SNAKES ON THE GROUND
185
L4
池
CHI, ike
pond, lake
6 strokes
用水池 YŌSUICHI reservoir
電池 DENCHI battery
古池 furuike old pond
Seal . a late graph (Shuowen). Has 氵 ‘water’ 42, and 也 (see 184 Note) as phonetic with associated sense taken as i] ‘extend’,
as phonetic with associated sense ‘move limbs rapidly’, and so ‘run’ (Qiu says ‘jog, trot’, Tōdō says ‘walk hurriedly’). Modern Japanese preserves the meaning ‘run’ from early Chinese, but in modern Chinese (Mandarin) 走 means ‘walk/go’. MS1995:v2:1254-6; KJ1970:643-4; QX2000:196; TA1965:298-9. Suggest taking upper element as 土 64 ‘ground’, and lower element as ‘foot’ (see 143).
