and ‘beginning’. The modern form uses 儿 for ‘person’ (see 41). MR2007:209; SS1984:267-8; QX2000:182; YK1976:146. Use 二 65 ‘two’.
Mnemonic: TWO BENT PERSONS OF SAME ORIGIN
118
L5
言
GEN, GON, koto, iu
word, say, speak
7 strokes
発言 HATSUGEN statement
無言 MUGON silence
言葉 kotoba word
Typical OBI form . Interpretations vary. Some commentators (Karlgren, Ma) take this to be based on a pictograph of a flute, and treat ‘words, speak’ as a loan usage. Others differ, typically taking it as 口 22 ‘mouth’ with a phonetic element (interpretations of which vary), but Shirakawa takes it as a tattooing needle for oath-taking with receptacle for the written oath. BK1957:80; MR2007:256; KJ1970:386-7; YK1976:162; SS1984:268-9.
Mnemonic: MOUTH SPEAKS THREE AND A BIT WORDS
119
L3
原
GEN, hara
plain, origin
10 strokes
原子 GENSHI atom
原文 GENBUN original text
草原 kusahara grassy plain
There is agreement that the bronze forms depict a spring gushing out from the foot of a cliff, and is thus the early version for the word later represented by 源 864. This led to an extended meaning of ‘source/origin’. The graph acquired the meaning of ‘plain, open country’, but this is a borrowed sense originally represented by a much more complex graph. QX2000:193, 329; SS1984:269; KJ1970:631-2. As a mnemonic, we suggest taking it as 厂 47 ‘cliff’, 白 69 ‘white’ and 小 38 ‘little’.
Mnemonic: ORIGINALLY CLIFF WITH A LITTLE WHITE SPRING, NOW A PLAIN
120
L3
戸
KO, to
door
4 strokes
戸外 KOGAI outdoors
戸主 KOSHU head of house
戸口 toguchi doorway
Based on OBI and bronze pictographs of a single-leaf door . In similar fashion, the double-leaf door or gate is represented in modern script as 門 231. MR2007:457; QX2000:180; SS1984:273. Take top horizontal line as a ceiling.
Mnemonic: SINGLE-LEAF DOOR UNDER A CEILING
121
L5
古
KO, furui
old
5 strokes
復古 FUKKO restoration
古着 furugi old clothes
考古学 KŌKOGAKU archeology
OBI ; typical bronze forms , . Views vary. Katō and Tōdō take as showing old skull, ‘old’ then being an extended meaning; Katō notes that in ancient China skulls were revered as representing spirits of the dead. Shirakawa takes the lower element not as ‘mouth, say’ 口 22 but ‘receptacle’, and takes the graph as showing shield placed over receptacle for prayers or spells. Analysis along the lines of ‘ten mouths’ (though a useful mnemonic) in the sense of ‘relate past’ or similar fails to take into account the OBI and bronze forms for 十 35 ‘ten’. KJ1970:330-31; TA1965:385-9; SS1984:273-4. Take as 十 35 ‘ten’, and 口 22 ‘say’.
Mnemonic: AN OLD ORAL TALE TOLD TEN TIMES OVER
122
L5
午
GO
noon
4 strokes
午後 GOGO p.m., afternoon
午前 GOZEN a.m., morning
正午 SHŌGO noon
Based on pictograph of a pestle: OBI ; bronze ; Shuowen . Associated with the horse in the context of the Twelve Earthly Branches, a traditional classificatory system employed from the Shang Dynasty to denote hours of the day, compass points, and so on. The ‘hour of the Horse’ (actually two hours) was the seventh of the Twelve Branches, and corresponded roughly to 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., hence the extended meaning of ‘noon’. Distinguish from 牛 108 ‘cow’. QX2000:335; SS1984:282; AS2007:519.
Mnemonic: COW BROKE TIP OFF HORN AT NOON
123
L5
後
GO, KŌ, ushiro, ato, nochi, okureru
behind, after, delay
9 strokes
以後 IGO after
後半 KŌHAN second half
後味 atoaji aftertaste
Bronze ; seal . Analyses vary. Taken in one view (Katō) as meaning ‘go back/backwards’, with 幺 29 (‘fine threads, small’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘go’, giving ‘go back/backwards’. ‘Behind, after’ and ‘be behind, put afterwards’, etc. are all in the same word-family (Schuessler). Katō takes the lower right-hand element in 後 as 夂 (‘descending foot’ [determinative no.34]) meaning ‘go’, but Tōdō takes it as ‘walk slowly, drag foot’, which is the sense normally attributed to 夊 (determinative 35); see Appendix. TA1965:304-5; OT1968:229; KJ1970:404; AS2007:280. Take 夂 as crosslegged, 彳 131 ‘go’.
Mnemonic: GO CROSSLEGGED ON THREADING ROAD AND FALL BEHIND
124
L5
語
GO, kataru
tell, speak, talk
14 strokes
語調 GOCHŌ tone of voice
物語 monogatari saga
日本語 NIHONGO Japanese lang.
Bronze ; Shuowen form . Has 言 118 ‘words, language’, and 吾 (NJK, ‘I/we’)
