GESHI summer solstice
Traditional 夏. Early forms (bronze) such as , are complex graphs widely seen as showing someone dancing, probably with mask. Ogawa postulates that the dance was held in summer, and this graph came to mean ‘summer’ by association. The determinative in 夏 is traditionally 夊 (no.35) ‘walk slowly/drag foot’, even though now conventionally written just like 夂 (no.34) ‘(descending) foot’. See Appendix. SS1984:75; KJ1970:118-9; OT1968:229-30. Suggest taking 夂 as ‘crossed legs’, and the upper part as head.
Mnemonic: MASKED HEAD AND CROSSED LEGS SHOW SUMMER MADNESS
89
L4
家
KA, KE, ie, -ya
house, specialist
10 strokes
農家 NŌKA farmhouse
武家 BUKE warrior family
小説家 SHŌSETSUKA novelist
Some OBI forms, as , are seen as pig under roof, but other OBI and bronze such as are seen as dog under roof. In support of the pig analysis, Ma suggests the structures to house people and pigs were not all that diff erent in ancient times. Shirakawa, however, in support of the dog analysis, observes that dog sacrifice was common at that period. Katō believes 豕 to be a pig, here as a phonetic with associated sense ‘leisure’, i.e. building for relaxing. Over time the character has become associated with ‘profession’, with particular families/houses being associated with particular work through the hereditary system in China. MR2007:367-8; KJ1970:124-5; BK1957:28; SS1984:76.
Mnemonic: SPECIALIST’S HOUSE LOOKS LIKE A PIG-STY!
90
L4
歌
KA, uta, utau
song, sing
14 strokes
歌手 KASHU singer
短歌 TANKA short verse
歌声 utagoe singing voice
Of quite late provenance. Shuowen has the simpler form 哥 (NJK, ‘elder brother’), to which at a later date the right-hand element 欠 496 ‘yawn, mouth open wide’ was added. In this more complex character, 哥 serves a phonetic role which is regarded by Katō and Yamada as also denoting longer articulation, while Tōdō includes it in a word-family meaning ‘bend’ (specifically here, manipulate or move the vocal chords). One can perhaps think of the early Chinese equivalent of KA-KA as like the English ‘(Tra)-la-la’. KJ1970:122; YK1976:84; TA1965:578-82. As a mnemonic, suggest again taking ‘can, able’ 可 655 and doubling it.
Mnemonic: GAPING MOUTH SINGS THE CAN-CAN
91
L4
画
GA, KAKU
picture, stroke
8 strokes
映画 EIGA movie
画面 GAMEN screen
計画 KEIKAKU plan
OBI ; bronze forms , ; seal ; traditional 畵. Numerous interpretations. Upper part of OBI form is taken by both Gu and Katō as a hand holding a writing brush, but Gu takes lower part as pictographic for what is drawn, while Katō treats instead as phonetic with associated sense ‘draw’. Katō takes bronze stage meaning as ‘(draw) field boundary lines’; Karlgren regards the lower part in bronze as representing a map; Shirakawa, by contrast, sees them in bronze as a writing brush over a shield, the shield being an object to be embellished. 画 is a later abbreviated shape. MS1995:v2:880-81; KJ1970:327; SS1984:83; BK1957:224-5; OT1968:24; GY2008:579.
Mnemonic: FIELD IN PICTURE PARTITIONED BY STROKES
92
L4
回
KAI, mawaru/su
turn, rotate
6 strokes
回転 KAITEN revolution
回数 KAISŪ frequency
言い回し iimawashi turn of phrase
A symbol of rotational motion . Apparently on the basis of the bronze forms e.g. , Shirakawa sees it as depicting a current swirling round. SS1984:86-7; QX2000:174.
Mnemonic: CO-AXIAL ROTATION
93
L5
会
KAI, E, au
meet
6 strokes
会社 KAISHA company
会釈 ESHAKU greeting
国会 KOKKAI the Diet
Traditional 會. Early forms (OBI and bronze) show and . Upper and middle parts are typically seen as showing lid over vessel or pot – probably cooking pot. Putting a lid on a pot suggests a subsequent extended sense of ‘join, ‘come/put together’, and the phonetic element of this graph (top strokes) is also taken to have that meaning. Alternatively, regarding the lower element, Karlgren suggests a stand, while Shirakawa takes it to be a rice steamer. 會 was abbreviated to 会 on the basis of cursive forms. MR2007:323-4; TA1965:643-5; YK1976:87; AS2007:287-8; BK1957:95-6; SS1984:86; FC1974:v1:1082-3. Suggest remembering its present form as person(s) 人 41, 二 65 ‘two’, and nose厶, and imagine you’re in New Zealand for a Maori greeting that entails rubbing noses.
Mnemonic: TWO PERSONS’ NOSES MEET
94
L4
海
KAI, umi
sea
9 strokes
海軍 KAIGUN navy
日本海 NIHONKAI Japan Sea
海辺 umibe seaside
Bronze . Has ‘water’ 氵 42, and 每 225 (‘every’) as phonetic with associated sense widely taken as ‘dark’ (or similar). In Tōdō’s word-family ‘black, dark’. Ma notes that one of the meanings of 每 is ‘dark’, and Katō also points to early use of 每 in the sense of ‘dark grey’, and links this to the ocean. Schuessler notes that in early China (the Zhou dynasty) the words for ‘ocean/sea’ and ‘dark’ were close in pronunciation. MR2007:220; KJ1970:149; AS2007:270, 288; OT1968:548.
Mnemonic: EVERY
