OBI is based on pictograph of two people back-to-back in profile. ‘Turn back on, retreat’ is taken as primary meaning by Ma and Mizukami. ‘North’ is loan usage (Schuessler notes the two words were homophones in early Chinese), while (less likely) Mizukami treats as extended sense on basis that houses in ancient China were built facing south, so the backs of occupants faced north. MR2007:389; MS1995:v1:156-7; AS2007:246; KJ1970:960.
Mnemonic: PEOPLE FLEE, TURNING THEIR BACKS ON THE NORTH
225
L5
毎
MAI, -goto
each, every
6 strokes
毎日 MAINICHI every day
毎度 MAIDO each time
日毎 higoto daily
Traditional 每; OBI . OBI views divided, taking the graph as depicting either a mother with hairpin (Ma, Ogawa), or plant, with 母 222 (‘mother’) as phonetic, with associated sense ‘abundant’ (Katō, Yamada, Tōdō); the latter seems the more persuasive. The meaning of ‘each, every’ is borrowed usage. MR2007:220; OT1968:548; KJ1970:756; YK1976:461; TA1965:166-8. Suggest taking elements as ‘person’ /人 41 and ‘mother’ 母.
Mnemonic: EACH AND EVERY PERSON HAS A MOTHER
226
L4
妹
MAI, imōto
younger sister
8 strokes
姉妹 SHIMAI sisters
妹分 imō toBUN sworn sister
令妹 REIMAI your younger sister
Semantic-phonetic compound found in OBI texts onwards . Has 女 37 ‘woman’, and 未 617 (‘immature’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘continuation’ (Katō, Yamada) or ‘small’ (Ogawa, Tōdō). KJ1970:868-9; YK1976:461; OT1968:256; TA1965:732-6.
Mnemonic: YOUNGER SISTER IS AN IMMATURE WOMAN
227
L5
万
MAN, BAN, yorozu
ten thousand, myriad
3 strokes
五万 GOMAN fifty thousand
万事 BANJI all things
万屋 yorozuya general dealer
Formerly 萬. OBI form is based on picto-graph of a scorpion. Already in OBI 萬 was used as a loan to indicate a number (‘ten thousand/large number’), and so, according to Qiu, another graph was then devised for ‘scorpion’, comprising 萬 and 虫 60 ‘insect’. Traditionally (at least from the time of the early 11th century Guangyun dictionary) 万 was seen as being a popular or vulgar equivalent for 萬, but according to Katō, this is a loan use of 万, originally a separate graph (pictograph of type of aquatic plant), for ‘ten thousand’. MS1995:v2:1124-6; MR2007:512; QX2000:177; KJ1970:299-300,812; KZ2009:v1:2. We suggest taking 万 as a ‘headless’ version of 方 223 in one of its meanings, ‘person’.
Mnemonic: TEN THOUSAND HEADLESS PERSONS
228
L4
明
MEI, MYŌ, akarui, akari/keru/kasu
clear, open, bright
8 strokes
明白 MEIHAKU clarity
明日 MYŌNICHI tomorrow
明け方 akegata day-break
Occurs in two forms in OBI: a) and b) : a) – the dominant line of development – corresponding to 日 66 ‘sun’ and 月 18 ‘moon’, as in modern Japanese and Chinese script; b) made of ‘moon’ and an element which is taken either as ‘window’ (Qiu, Karlgren) or ‘light, bright’ (Katō, Yamada). QX2000:83, 192; BK1957:201; KJ1970:838; YK1976:468.
Mnemonic: SUN AND MOON TOGETHER MAKE IT CLEAR AND BRIGHT
229
L3
鳴
MEI, naku/ru
non-human sound
14 strokes
鳴動 MEIDŌ rumbling
鳴き声 nakigoe animal cry
鳴り物 narimono musical instrument
The modern graph has ‘mouth’ 口 22 and ‘bird’ 鳥 190, but based on OBI and bronze forms Katō takes the bird to be a cock. KJ1970:839; MR2007:297; OT1968:1150.
Mnemonic: SOUNDS FROM A BIRD’S MOUTH ARE NOT HUMAN
230
L3
毛
MŌ, ke
hair, fur
4 strokes
羊毛 YŌMŌ wool
毛皮 kegawa fur
毛虫 kemushi caterpillar
Bronze forms such as show the graph is based on a tuft of fur or hair. SS1984:822; OT1968:549; YK1976:471.
TŌHOKU northeast
