OBI ; seal . Generally treated as 又 2003 ‘(right) hand’, with 厂 as phonetic with associated sense ‘raise the hands, overturn’ (though Ma takes the same two elements as representing a person scrambling up a cliff). Meanings such as ‘oppose’ are extended usage. According to Ogawa, the SJ reading TAN (denoting a unit of measure for cloth, or land) derives from 反 as an abbreviation of 段 944 (‘step’: 段 also has an SJ reading TAN), and one meaning of 段 in pre-modern China was a unit of measure for cloth. MS1995:v1:194-5; KJ1970:785; YK1976:415; MR2007:269-70; OT1968:153; ZY2009:v2:572.
Mnemonic: CLIFF OPPOSES HAND
394
L3
坂
HAN, saka
slope
7 strokes
急坂 KYŪHAN steep slope
坂道 sakamichi slope
下り坂 kudarizaka downhill
A late, post-Shuowen graph; generally treated as variant of 阪 1865 (seal form of 阪: ). 坂 consists of 土 64 ‘earth, ground’ with 反 393 (‘slope, oppose’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘sloping’, to give ‘sloping ground’. In Tōdō’s word-family ‘be covered with; sloping’. Note: meaning of 阝 as left-hand element is ‘piled-up earth, terraced elevated land, mound’: see 1907. KJ1970:787; OT1968:213; TA1965:658-60.
Mnemonic: SLOPE IS OPPOSED GROUND
395
L3
板
HAN, BAN, ita
board, plate
8 strokes
黒板 KOKUBAN blackboard
板紙 itagami cardboard
板前 itamae chef
Occurs in seal form , but not included in Shuowen; generally treated as a variant of 版 791 (‘board, print’), reflecting the fact that early printing in Japan, as in China, used wooden blocks. 板 consists of ‘tree, wood’, with 反 393 (‘oppose’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘thin, flat’, to give ‘flat board’. In Tōdō’s word-family ‘spread out flat, open out in circular pattern’. YK1976:419; OT1968:496; TA1965:654-6.
Mnemonic: OPPOSED WOODEN BOARDS
396
L3
皮
HI, kawa
skin, leather
5 strokes
皮膚 HIFU skin
皮肉 HINIKU sarcasm
木の皮 kinokawa bark
Bronze ; seal . Bronze form has 又 2003 ‘(right) hand’, and (later /) as phonetic with associated sense ‘remove’, to give original meaning ‘remove [animal hide] with the hand’. The modern meaning range ‘[animal] hide, leather, fur, skin’ reflects a restricted semantic shift. YK1976:421; MS1995:v2:900; OT1968:689. As a mnemonic we suggest taking the modern graph as 反 (393 ‘opposed’) with one extra stroke.
Mnemonic: SKINS WITH AN OPPOSED EXTRA STROKE
397
L3
悲
HI, kanashii/shimu
sad
12 strokes
悲劇 HIGEKI tragedy
悲鳴 HIMEI shriek, wail
悲しみ kanashimi sorrow
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 心 164 ‘heart, mind’, and 非 794 (originally bird wings, meaning ‘oppose’, and by extension ‘deny; wrong’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘sad, misery, grief’. The overall meaning ‘sad, misery’ can be understood as ‘opposing/conflicted feelings’. YK1976:424; KJ1970:797; SS1984:713.
Mnemonic: MY HEART HAS WINGS – YET I AM SAD!
398
L3
美
BI, utsukushii
beautiful, fine
9 strokes
美人 BIJIN beautiful woman
美術 BIJUTSU fine arts
美学 BIGAKU aesthetics
OBI ; seal . Has 羊 426 ‘sheep’ (often ), and 大 56 ‘big’, to give meaning ‘big/fat sheep’. By extension from this positive association, ‘good to eat/drink’, and ‘beautiful’. MS1995:v2:1040-41; KJ1970:801; YK1976:424. See 1657 for further comment on standards of beauty in early Japan.
TAN, soru/rasu
