OBI ; seal . Has 牜(牛) 108 ‘cow’, and an NJK 勿 (originally a graph with OBI forms taken as mostly depicting fluttering streamers of different colors, but then adopted through loan usage for a word meaning ‘not’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘various’, to give overall meaning ‘cow of various colors (mottled hide)’. A generalised shift in meaning gave rise to the sense ‘things’, which according to Schuessler is already found in OBI texts. KJ1970:830-32; MS1995:v2:832-3, v1:146-8; YK1976:439-40; AS2007:520.
Mnemonic: COW WITH STREAMERS FROM ITS HORNS – WHAT A FUNNY THING
411
L3
平
HEI, BYŌ, taira, hiratai
flat, even, calm
5 strokes
平気 HEIKI calmness
平等 BYŌDŌ equality
平手 hirate palm of hand
OBI ; bronze . The bottom two strokes of the OBI form show an aquatic plant. Yamada suggests the curved shape indicates it has no roots and is just floating, and takes the three strokes above as the OBI graph for 小 38 ‘small’, to give ‘small floating plant’; at the bronze stage, the top horizontal stroke was added, probably for the flat surface of the water. ‘Flat, even’ is extended usage, and ‘calm’ a further extended sense. YK1976:443; KJ1970:167; MS1995:v1:446-7. We suggest taking the graph as a whole, i.e. as a pictograph, of evenly balanced scales.
Mnemonic: SCALES ARE FLAT AND EVEN
412
L3
返
HEN, kaesu/ru
return
7 strokes
返事 HENJI reply
返済 HENSAI repayment
仕返し shikaeshi retaliation
Bronze ; seal . Has 辶 85 ‘go, walk, move’, and 反 393 (‘oppose’) as phonetic, here with associated sense ‘return, reverse’. KJ1970:786-7; MS1995:v2:1284-5; YK1976:446.
Mnemonic: REVERSE MOVEMENT AND RETURN
413
L4
勉
BEN
strive
10 strokes
勉強 BENKYŌ study
勤勉 KINBEN diligence
勉学 BENGAKU study
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Katō and Yamada take as 力 78 ‘strength, power’, with 免 2018 q.v. (originally a woman striving to give birth; now meaning ‘avoid, escape’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘be born’. Along the same lines, Tōdō notes 免 as the original way of writing NJK 娩 ‘childbirth’, and includes it in the word-family ‘take out/produce with great effort’. The graph 勉 thus has the meaning ‘make an effort, strive’. KJ1970:854; YK1976:449; TA1965:739-41.
Mnemonic: STRIVE STRONGLY TO ESCAPE
414
L3
放
HŌ, hanasu/tsu
release, emit
8 strokes
開放 KAIHŌ liberation
放射 HŌSHA radiation
手放す tebanasu let go
Bronze . Has 攵 (usual right-hand form of 攴 112 ‘hit with a stick’), and left-hand element with disputed function and meaning. Based on bronze forms, Mizukami interprets the left-hand element as 方 223 (‘direction, person’), serving as phonetic with associated sense ‘release, spread, extend’. Shirakawa, alternatively, takes 方 as showing an exposed corpse, and the whole graph as showing the corpse being beaten in a ritual to drive out evil spirits. Ogawa regards what others take as 方 as in error for 人 41 ‘person’. Whichever analysis is followed, in broad terms the overall sense is still ‘beat with a stick and chase away’, leading to other related meanings such as ‘emit’ and ‘release’. MS1995:v1:570-71; SS1984:785; OT1968:435; YK1976:453.
Mnemonic: BEATING A PERSON IS A FORM OF RELEASE FOR SOME
415
L4
味
MI, aji, ajiwau
taste, relish
8 strokes
意味 IMI meaning
興味 KYŌMI interest
味見 ajimi tasting
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 口 22 ‘mouth’, and 未 617 (originally a tree with luxuriant foliage, but borrowed to mean ‘not yet’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘delicious’ (Ogawa says ‘good’), to give ‘taste, flavor’. Also used by extension to denote an attribute or quality. KJ1970:869; YK1976:464; OT1968:179; AS2007:512.
SHOKUMOTSU food
