tsuchikusai unsophisticated
OBI Interpretations quite diverse. One (Ogawa, Gu) is that early (OBI and bronze) forms show a clod/mound of earth raised to honor the earth god, or represent the earth god himself (Shirakawa). Another is a plant coming out of the soil (Katō, re bronze forms only). Yet another (Karlgren) sees the graph as ‘a drawing of the phallic-shaped sacred pole of the altar of the soil’. OT1968:208; GY2008:22; SS1984:639; KJ1970:956; BK1957:36-7.
Mnemonic: A PLANT BREAKS THROUGH THE GROUND
65
L5
二
NI, futa-
two
2 strokes
二月 NIGATSU February
二十 NIJŪ twenty
二人 NININ/futari* two people
Two horizontal lines of equal length are found in OBI; later, sometimes with a shorter top stroke, as in the modern form. KJ1970:39; SS1984:668.
Mnemonic: TWO LINES MEANS TWO, EVEN IF ONE IS SHORT
66
L5
日
NICHI, JITSU, hi, -ka
sun, day
4 strokes
日曜日 NICHIYŌbi Sunday
本日 HONJITSU today
二日 futsuka* second day
Based on pictograph of the sun spot/line probably added to distinguish it as real object and not a mere abstract shape. MR2007:352; SS1984:669; KJ1970:952-3.
Mnemonic: IN LINE WITH THE SUN, A NEW DAY’S BEGUN
67
L5
入
NYŪ, hairu, ireru/ru
enter, put in
2 strokes
輸入 YUNYŪ import
入り口 iriguchi entrance
入れ物 iremono container
The OBI form and bronze forms depict the entrance to a dwelling Many see the modern stylized form as a person bending (see 41) to enter, which is incorrect but a useful mnemonic. SS1984:669-70; KJ1970:515; YK1976:401.
Mnemonic: BEND TO ENTER THROUGH INVERTED V-SHAPED OPENING
68
L5
年
NEN, toshi
year
6 strokes
来年 RAINEN next year
五年生 GONENSEI fifth grader
年寄 toshiyori elderly person
Interpretations of the OBI forms such as are varied. The graphs may well depict a man carrying a load of grain plants on his back, indicating the annual harvest and by extension the annual cycle in general. Shirakawa is more specific, seeing a man dancing while carrying grain on the occasion of the rite asking for a good harvest. Qiu, however, takes one element in the OBI forms as depicting grain, but the other element as 千 49 ‘thousand’ as a phonetic indicator, this later being replaced by 人/ 41 ‘person’ instead. SS1984:673; QX2000:20; KJ1970:749. A mnemonically difficult character, but suggest taking top element as ‘person’ 人/ 41 and lower element as variant of 井 1575 ‘well’.
Mnemonic: PERSON VISITS MISSHAPEN WELL EVERY YEAR
69
L5
白
HAKU, shiroi, shira-
white
5 strokes
白書 HAKUSHO White Paper
面白い omoshiroi interesting
白髪 shiraga* greyed hair
OBI forms such as are interpreted variously. Shirakawa sees it as a bleached skull, Schuessler a (pale) acorn, and Katō a pale thumbnail. Karlgren takes it as a phallus, but this seems to overlook the extended vertical line at the top in some forms, even curled in some. Katō points out that the thumb indicated a hundred in ancient China, with similar pronunciation (see 71). Whatever the original meaning of 白, ‘white’ may represent a phonetic loan use, though it is difficult to rule this out as a possible extended sense. SS1984:687-8; KJ1970:960-1; BK1957:206-7; AS2007:153-4. We suggest taking the character as punning on ‘stroke’ and ‘sun’ 日 66 for a mnemonic.
Mnemonic: SUNSTROKE LEAVES YOU WHITE!?
70
L5
八
HACHI, ya-
eight
2 strokes
八月 HACHIGATSU August
八百屋 yaoya* greengrocer
八日 yōka* eighth day
All early forms, such as depict splitting/dividing, the graph for this then being borrowed phonetically to represent the word for ‘eight’. It still features as an element to indicate splitting and by extension ‘disperse, away, out’. TA1965:647-9; SS1984:694; OT1968:94.
Mnemonic: EIGHT IS EASILY DIVIDED
71
L5
百
HYAKU
hundred
6 strokes
百倍 HYAKUBAI hundred-fold
百姓 HYAKUSHŌ farmer
百貨店 HYAKKATEN dept store
Most OBI and bronze forms such as comprise a horizontal stroke to indicate one unit on top of a graph for 白 69 ‘white’. The word for ‘hundred’ in early Chinese was close in pronunciation to that for ‘white’, the graph for which represents a thumb (Katō) or acorn (Schuessler). SS1984:723-4; TS2010:8; AS2007:153-4; KJ1985:425.
Mnemonic: ONE WHITE THUMBNAIL IS WORTH A HUNDRED ACORNS
72
L4
文
BUN, MON, fumi
writing, text
4 strokes
文学 BUNGAKU literature
文字 MO(N)JI character
恋文 koibumi love-letter
OBI and bronze forms Etymology disputed. These forms are taken by Shirakawa and Karlgren as person with tattoos, while Ogawa and Katō take them as a figure wearing garment with
