cleave’. There was a set order to cutting up an animal into pieces, often arranged in a row, and so the meaning of this graph was extended to ‘row, line, order’. MS1995:v1:126-7; YK1976:503-4, 312; KJ1970:922.
Mnemonic: CUT UP BONES IN A ROW
438
L3
練
REN, neru
refine, knead, train
14 strokes
訓練 KUNREN training
洗練 SENREN refinement
練り粉 neriko dough
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional 練. Has 糸 29 ‘thread’, and 柬 (originally 束 561 ‘bundle of twigs/branches’, with 八 70 ‘divide; select’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘soften by boiling’, which referred to a process of bringing out the gloss in silk thread, and was also applied to the product, i.e. silk fabric woven with glossed thread. The meaning was then modified from ‘work/process silk thread’ to ‘attain skill in a task, practice’. KJ1970:648; MS1995:v1:658-9; YK1976:504-5; OT1968:784. We suggest taking the right-hand element as 東 201 ‘east’.
Mnemonic: REFINED THREADS FROM THE EAST
439
L3
路
RO, -ji
road, route
13 strokes
道路 DŌRO road
線路 SENRO rail track
旅路 tabiji journey
Bronze ; seal . Has 足 54 ‘foot’, and 各 462 (originally ‘movement’, now meaning ‘each’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘tread’ (Mizukami also lists alternative sense ‘link, join’), to give ‘[place] where people tread with their feet’, i.e. ‘path, road’. MS1995:v2:1262-3; KJ1970:190-91; YK1976:505.
Mnemonic: EACH FOOT FOLLOWS SAME ROAD, SAME ROUTE
440
L3
和
WA, O, yawaragu, nagoyaka
Japan, peace, soft
8 strokes
平和 HEIWA peace
大和 Yamato* Japan
和食 WASHOKU Japanese food
Bronze ; seal . Has 口 22 ‘mouth’, and 禾 87 (‘rice/grain plant’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘add’; giving ‘one voice is added to another’. ‘Soften, be calmed down’ are extended meanings (Katō, Mizukami, Yamada). The additional meaning ‘Japan’ came about as a substitute initiated by the Japanese themselves to replace an earlier, less flattering graph for Japan used in early Chinese histories such as Wei Zhi ‘History of the Wei [Kingdom]’, namely 倭 (SJ WA), which means ‘submissive’, and according to some scholars, ‘dwarfs’. KJ1970:306; MS1995:222-3; YK1976:508-9; OT1968:178.
Mnemonic: SOFT RICE FOR THE MOUTH IN PEACEFUL JAPAN
THE 200 FOURTH GRADE CHARACTERS
441
L3
愛
AI
love
13 strokes
愛情 AIJŌ love
母性愛 BOSEIAI maternal love
愛国者 AIKOKUSHA patriot
Seal ; traditional ; late graph (Shuowen). Views vary. There are several complicating factors with the etymology of this graph, explained below. Analyzed by Yamada as 夊 in line with the seal form (‘walk slowly, drag feet’ [determinative 35; see Appendix]), with (an obsolete graph meaning ‘favor, feel compassion’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘by stealth’, to give overall meaning ‘walk stealthily’; Katō sees this tentatively as the possible meaning also. Both scholars regard ‘love’ as a loan usage. Mizukami notes an alternative analysis: 心 164 ‘heart, mind’ with 夂 ‘descending foot’ (determinative 34) and 旡 (originally, pictograph of person who has eaten till full) ‘be full; stick in the throat’; overall meaning is ‘difficult to move forward with heart full of anguish’, and ‘love’ as loan usage. Note this analysis has 夂 ‘descending foot’, but treats as meaning 夊 ‘walk slowly’. Morohashi quotes the voluminous 17th century dictionary Zhengzitong in treating as the original way of writing 愛. He makes no mention of loan usage for ‘love’, though it would appear to be valid to take ‘love’ as an extension of ‘favor, feel compassion’, the original meaning of . YK1976:49; KJ1970:1-2; MT1989:v4:980, 1123; MS1995:v1:513-4. Note: for more on 夂 and 夊 see Appendix. We suggest taking 夂 as crossed legs, 爫 1739 as ‘hand’, 冖 as cover, and 心 164 ‘heart’.
Mnemonic: SIT CROSS-LEGGED, HAND COVERING HEART, IN LOVE
442
L3
案
AN
plan, concern, table
10 strokes
提案 TEIAN plan
案外 ANGAI unexpectedly
案内 ANNAI guidance
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 木 73 ‘tree, wood’, and 安 242 (‘relax’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘place, put’, to represent a small table on which tableware and food were put. Meanings such as ‘investigate’, ‘consider’, ‘plan’ are loan usages (Yamada). Art dating back to the Shang Dynasty
cleave’. There was a set order to cutting up an animal into pieces, often arranged in a row, and so the meaning of this graph was extended to ‘row, line, order’. MS1995:v1:126-7; YK1976:503-4, 312; KJ1970:922.
