form is often used. MR2007:293-4; YK1976:482; KJ1970:875; MS1995:v2:1038-9.
Mnemonic: THIN-BODIED SHEEP WITH HORNS AND THREE STRIPES
427
L4
洋
YŌ
ocean, Western
9 strokes
西洋人 SEIYŌJIN Westerner
大西洋 TAISEIYŌ Atlantic Ocean
洋食 YŌSHOKU Western food
OBI ; seal . Generally taken as 氵 42 ‘water’, and 羊 426 (‘sheep’) as phonetic with associated sense unclear because this graph originally denoted a river name (Katō, Ogawa, Yamada). Its meaning of ‘sea, ocean’ is regarded as a loan usage. Mizukami, though, takes 羊 here as having the associated sense ‘spacious, expansive’. KJ1970:535-6; OT1968:573; YK1976:483; MS1995:v2:750-52.
Mnemonic: OCEAN OF WHITE SHEEP, NOT WHITE HORSES!
428
L3
葉
YŌ, ha
leaf, generation
12 strokes
針葉樹 SHIN’YŌJU conifer
葉巻 hamaki cigar
葉書 hagaki postcard
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 艹 53 plant/grass, and 枼 (OBI form ; a CO that originally represented thin flat leaves on tree branches, later stylized to 世 344 ‘generation’ qv and 木 73 ‘tree’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘thin and flat’. In Tōdō’s word-family ‘thin’. He suggests that the (lesser and now rare) sense ‘generation, age’ is a metaphoric use based on layers of leaves one on top of the other. OT1968:863; MS1995:v1:662; TA1965:831-3.
Mnemonic: LEAVES ARE GENERATIONS OF PLANTS ON A TREE
429
L3
陽
YŌ, hi
sunny, male, positive
12 strokes
陽極 YŌKYOKU anode
陽気 YŌKI liveliness, good cheer
太陽系 TAIYŌKEI solar system
OBI ; seal . Has 阝 1907 ‘hill, piled-up earth’ and 昜 161 (CO, ‘sun rises’) as semantic and phonetic to give ‘sun shines’ > ‘sunny hill/hillside’. By extension, ‘sun; bright, warm’. A further extended meaning, deriving from ancient Chinese belief, is yang ‘the male/positive principle’ (YŌ), which contrasts with 陰 1635 (IN) ‘the female/negative principle’, as in ‘Yin and Yang’. KJ1970:879; MS1995:v2:1400-02; OT1968:1072.
Mnemonic: POSITIVELY SUNNY RAYS FALL ON HILLSIDE
430
L3
様
YŌ, sama
situation, way, appearance, polite suffix
14 strokes
仕様 SHIYŌ way, means
有様 arisama situation
皆様 minasama everyone (polite)
Seal ; traditional 樣 ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 木 73 ‘tree, wood’, and what is generally taken as 羕 (originally pictograph of big river with tributaries) as phonetic. Yamada takes 羕 as having associated sense ‘resemble’, and Katō says it may have this meaning, but despite the connection with appearance, both consider ‘appearance/form’ as loan usage. Ogawa takes 樣 to be a variant of the NJK 橡 ‘horse chestnut’ or ‘oak’, and likewise takes 様 as a loan for ‘appearance’. As for the use of 様 for‘–sama’ as a polite suffix, there was an independent Japanese word sama ‘condition/appearance/shape’, found from about the tenth century, sometimes written as 様, and its use in modern Japanese for ‘–sama’ as a suffix may be regarded as a loan usage. YK1976:485; KJ1970:875; OT1968:519. We suggest taking the elements as 木 73 ‘tree’, 羊 426 ‘sheep’, and 水 42 ‘water’.
Mnemonic: SHEEP APPEARS TO WATER TREE – AWKWARD SITUATION
431
L4
落
RAKU, ochiru/tosu
fall, drop
12 strokes
落下 RAKKA fall, descent
落ち葉 ochiba fallen leaf
落し物 otoshimono dropped item
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 艹 53 plant/grass, and 洛 (now NJK for ‘Kyoto’; originally a river name) as phonetic, to give ‘leaves fall’, then general sense ‘fall’. KJ1970:894; MS1995:v2:750; YK1976:488. Suggest use 各 462 ‘each’, with 氵 42 ‘water’.
Mnemonic: FROM EACH PLANT, LEAVES FALL LIKE WATER DROPLETS
form 