alt="Image"/>; seal . Has 卩 (see 41) ‘person kneeling’, and as phonetic with associated sense ‘shout loudly’ together with 口 22 ‘mouth, speak’ for emphasis, to give the overall meaning ‘order, command’ (to kneeling person) (Yamada). Ogawa, though, takes this graph as 口 ‘mouth’ with 令 633 ‘order’ as semantic and phonetic, meaning ‘use others’. Those who give orders control others, and so meanings such as ‘fate’ and ‘life’ represent extended usage. In Shang times the simpler graph 令 was used to write two words of similar pronunciation and probably related (both have the meaning ‘order, command’, but the word later written 命 also had the lesser sense ‘give a name’); the later appearance of 命 in bronze texts signals that each of the two words could be represented unambiguously from that point on. MS1995:v1:224; YK1976:467-8; KJ1970:177-8; OT1968:178; AS2007:387, 361.
Mnemonic: LIFE CAN HINGE ON A SPOKEN ORDER
417
L3
面
MEN, omo(te), tsura
face, aspect, mask
9 strokes
外面 GAIMEN exterior
面白い omoshiroi interesting
鼻面 hanazura muzzle
OBI ; bronze ; seal . Interpretation varies. Taken to represent either the face with a line or lines in front of it (Qiu, Ma, Ogawa – Qiu sees the long outside line in the bronze form as showing the front surface of the face), or a mask (Katō, Yamada). The long line is more suggestive of something around a face, i.e. mask, yet the Shuowen takes it as meaning ‘face’. ‘Face’ led to extended senses such as ‘aspect’. QX2000:184; MR2007:401; OT1968:1093; KJ1970:870-71; YK1976:470. Suggest using 目 76 ‘eye’.
Mnemonic: FACE-MASK WITH BIG EYE IN THE MIDDLE AND A FLAT TOP
418
L4
問
MON, tou
ask
11 strokes
質問 SHITSUMON question
学問 GAKUMON scholarship
問屋 toiya/tonya* dealer
OBI ; seal . Has 口 22 ‘mouth’ (here as ‘speak/call’), and 門 231 ‘gate/door’ serving here as phonetic with associated sense ‘question aggressively’; later acquired generalized meaning ‘ask’. MS1995:v1:234-5; KJ1970:834-5; YK1976:473.
Mnemonic: ASK WHO’S CALLING AT THE DOOR
419
L3
役
YAKU, EKI
role, service, duty
7 strokes
役人 YAKUNIN functionary
役者 YAKUSHA actor
兵役 HEIEKI military service
OBI ; bronze ; seal . Typically analyzed as 彳 131 ‘go/walk’, with 殳 170 ‘hand holding big stick’, to give overall sense ‘travel round with stick’. Shirakawa treats the stick as ritualistic, and Ogawa sees it as a symbol of authority to give warnings. This is appropriate for the seal form, but not older forms. The OBI and bronze equivalents of this graph have not 彳 but either two persons, or one person who – in some cases – is kneeling: in combination with 殳 , this gives the overall meaning ‘forced work/labor’ (Mizukami, Katō, Schuessler). Often the work appears to have been of a military nature. YK1976:474-5; KJ1970:88; SS1984:827; OT1968:346; AS2007:568.
Mnemonic: GO OFF WITH STICK IN HAND TO DO ONE’S DUTY
420
L4
薬
YAKU, kusuri
medicine, drug
16 strokes
薬局 YAKKYOKU pharmacy
火薬 KAYAKU gunpowder
薬指 ring finger kusuriyubi
Bronze ; seal ; traditional 藥. Has 艹 53 plant/grass and 樂 98 (qv, originally ‘oak tree’ or type of musical instrument, later loaned for ‘music; pleasure’), here serving as phonetic with associated sense ‘heal, cure’. The bronze form lacks the element 白 69 ‘white’, which may represent an acorn (see 98). MS1995:v2:1136-7; KJ1970:874; YK1976:475-6.
Mnemonic: MEDICINAL PLANT GIVES PLEASURE
421
L4
由
YU, YŪ, yoshi
reason, means, way, from
5 strokes
由来 YURAI derivation
理由 RIYŪ reason
自由 JIYŪ freedom
Seal . Etymology disputed. Katō and Yamada treat as originally same graph as 西 169 (later divergence in shape), showing basket/bag for pressing out liquid in wine-making. Shirakawa sees early forms of 由 as the same as for 卣 (‘small-necked wine jar’), which he takes as initially showing a fleshy gourd that produced a form of oil (see 油 422 ‘oil’). Ogawa also treats 卣 and 由 as having same early forms. Differences in analysis of early forms of 由 reflect difficulties often found in deciding which old forms correspond to which modern graphs. The abstract meanings for 由 such as ‘from’ may be taken as loan usages. KJ1970:24; YK1976:476; SS1984:829; OT1968:669,144. Take as 田 63 ‘field’ and l as a drill.
alt="Image"/>; seal 