OBI ; bronze . As Mizukami notes, the ‘old forms’ (meaning here OBI and bronze) for this graph are the same as those for 吏 2074 and 使 303; the graph shapes are somewhat diff erentiated at the seal script stage. Karlgren adds one more graph, 史 523, to this group. Generally interpreted as a hand holding up an element taken as both semantic and phonetic, to represent part of a tree with branches and a sign or banner attached. The meaning of the graph is work, with its type displayed on the sign; Katō takes the small mouth-shaped component above the hand as meaning ‘announce’ (the type of work). MS1995:v1:26-8, 214, 60-61; KJ1970:449-50; YK1976:230. We suggest 十 35 ‘ten’, hand, and box 口.
Mnemonic: HAND HOLDING UP TEN BOXES IS A MEMORABLE THING
310
L4
持
JI, motsu
hold, have, maintain
9 strokes
持久 JIKYŪ endurance
持ち主 mochinushi owner
長持ち nagamochi durability
Bronze ; seal . Has 扌 34 ‘hand’, and 寺 149 (‘temple’) as phonetic with associated senses such as ‘manage’ (Mizukami, Katō) or ‘use’ (Yamada). Thus ‘using the hands’, leading to a more general ‘take in hand’ and ‘hold’ (the latter including ‘hold out/endure’). MS1995:v1:552-3; KJ1970:480; YK1976:231.
Mnemonic: HOLD HANDS AT THE TEMPLE
311
L3
式
SHIKI
ceremony, form
6 strokes
新式 SHINSHIKI new style
方式 HŌSHIKI formula
葬式 SŌSHIKI funeral
A late graph (Shuowen) . Has 工 125 ‘ax’/‘adze’ (often associated with carpentry/construction, and sometimes seen as a set-square), with 弋 (‘stake’, NJK also meaning ‘wooden pile’ and as an element often indicates ‘tool’ [Tōdō] or ‘sign/marker’) as semantic and phonetic, meaning ‘sign, mark’ (including in construction work), or (Ogawa) ‘a rule, guideline’. KJ1970:310-11; YK1976:233; OT1968:311; TA1965:74-9.
Mnemonic: TO APPLY SET-SQUARE TO STAKE IS GOOD FORM
312
L3
実
JITSU, mi, minoru
truth, reality, bear fruit
8 strokes
実行 JIKKŌ carrying out
事実 JIJITSU fact
実入り miiri crop, profits
Traditional 實. The bronze form comprises 宀 30 ‘roof, dwelling’, with 貝 10 ‘shellfish/shell’, ‘currency’, and the element between the two, taken as phonetic by Katō and Yamada with an associated meaning ‘fill’. Thus ‘a house with wealth’. ‘(Bear) fruit’ is an extended meaning (cf the English term ‘fruitful’), as also perhaps is ‘truth’. 貫 first appears as lower element in this graph as a variant at clerical script stage. MS1995:v1:384-6; KJ1970:486; YK1976:236; AS2007:464. We suggest taking the lower element of the modern form as a variant of 大 56 ‘big (man)’.
Mnemonic: THERE’S A BIG SIX-ARMED MAN IN THE HOUSE – IT’S THE TRUTH!
313
L4
写
SHA, utsusu/ru
copy, transcribe
5 strokes
写真 SHASHIN photograph
写実 SHAJITSU realism
複写機 FUKUSHAKI copier
A late graph (Shuowen) . The traditional form 寫 has 宀 30 ‘roof, dwelling’, and 舄 (舃) (a CO with a range of meanings but originally pictograph of bird) as phonetic with associated sense ‘move from one place to another’; by extension, ‘copy’. KJ1970:489-90; YK1976:237; OT1968:284; ZY2009:v1:245, v3:1049. For the modern form we suggest taking the top element as a ‘flat roof’ and the lower as 与 2047 ‘convey/give’.
Mnemonic: PEAKED ROOF ‘COPIED’ AS FLAT – CONVEYS WRONG IMPRESSION
314
L4
者
SHA, mono
person
8 strokes
作者 SAKUSHA author
後者 KŌSHA the latter
若者 wakamono young people
Bronze ; seal ; traditional 者 (note dot). Bronze form has firewood projecting up out of a container; possibly the firewood is burning. Original graph meaning is ‘collect and store much firewood’; other meanings such as ‘person’ are loan usages. MS1995:v2:1052-3; KJ1970:492; YK1976:238-9. We suggest using 耂 (nicknamed ‘old man radical’), noting ‘ground’ 土 64 (see also 考 130) with 日 as 日 66 ‘day/sun’.
Mnemonic: MOST PERSONS WILL BE BURIED IN THE GROUND ONE DAY
dekigoto event
