Kenneth G. Henshall

The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji


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      今

      KON, KIN, ima

      now

      4 strokes

      今週 KONSHŪ this week

      今度 KONDO this time

      今頃 imagoro around now

      The OBI forms such as Image are taken by Katō and Ogawa to depict a roof covering some sort of object; Shirakawa interprets as a lid and stopper over a container. Either way, the meaning ‘now’ represents a loan usage. KJ1970:175-6; OT1968:42; SS1984:325.

      Mnemonic: NOW IS THE TIME TO COVER THAT OBJECT

      139

      L3

      才

      SAI

      talent, age, -year

      3 strokes

      天才 TENSAI genius

      五才 GOSAI five years old

      才能 SAINŌ talent

      Etymology uncertain. Early forms Image, Image. There are numerous proposals for this graph, which appears from OBI onwards. Among them, Ma notes the view that it depicts a plant appearing above the surface for the first time. Ogawa and Shirakawa, by contrast, see it as a length of wood secured in the ground, with a horizontal length or bundle to form a cross shape; Shirakawa then hypothesizes that this served as a marker of sacred places. Katō follows the hypothesis of a noted Chinese scholar, who believes it depicts a river blocked up, with disastrous consequences. It is unclear as to how it gained its present meanings, but probably through loan usage. MR2007:341-2; OT1968:399; SS1984:334; KJ1970:420-21.

      Mnemonic: PROPPING UP THE CROSS SHOWS TALENT

      140

      L3

      細

      SAI, hosoi, komakai

      slender, fine

      11 strokes

      細工 SAIKU craftsmanship

      細長い hosonagai slender

      細々 komagoma in detail

      Late graph (Shuowen). Seal form Image has 糸 29 ‘thread’ as semantic, and 囟 (CO originally a pictograph of skull or fontanelle) as phonetic, with associated sense ‘thin, slender’. The change from 囟 to 田 in standard script is due either to script regularization or mistaken analysis. KJ1970:469; YK1976:198; SS1984:338. We suggest taking 田 as 63 ‘field’.

      Mnemonic: SLENDER PATH THREADS THROUGH FIELD

      141

      L4

      作

      SAKU, SA, tsukuru

      make, make up

      7 strokes

      製作 SEISAKU production

      作品 SAKUHIN a work

      動作 DŌSA action

      Originally the graph was just 乍, with OBI forms such as Image showing what is seen as timber being cut with an ax. Some bronze forms have a hand appended; later this was dropped, and the ‘person’ determinative 亻 41 was added. ‘To make’ evolved as an extended meaning. As the phonetic in 作, 乍 also has associated sense of ‘modified, not genuine’ (cf English ‘made up’). MS1995:v1:18-20, 54; KJ1970:435-6; OT1968:25,53. We suggest taking 乍 as a saw.

      Mnemonic: PERSON USES SAW TO MAKE THINGS

      142

      L3

      算

      SAN

      reckon, count

      14 strokes

      計算 KEISAN calculation

      予算 YOSAN budget

      算数 SANSŪ arithmetic

      Relatively late origin (Shuowen) Image. The top element is Image 58 ‘bamboo’, which Katō takes as referring to bamboo tallies used for counting in ancient times, together with 具 284 (‘equipment, means’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘count’, giving ‘to count’. KJ1970:443; SS1984:353; OT1968:755, 98.

      Mnemonic: USE BOTH HANDS TO COUNT ON A BAMBOO ABACUS

      143

      L4

      止

      SHI, tomeru/maru

      stop

      4 strokes

      中止 CHŪSHI suspension

      止め役 tomeYAKU peacemaker

      止め処 tomedo* an end

      OBI forms such as Image and Image, already stylized, are taken as a person’s foot; ‘stop, remain’ is an extended sense (Qiu), but the graph can also indicate action with the feet, i.e., ‘go, move’ (see e.g. 歴 636 ‘istory’), apparently due to confusion with several other early graphs similar in shape and pronunciation. MS1995:v1:702-03; QX2000:329; BK1957:253-4; OT1968:536, 25.

      Mnemonic: FOOTPRINT STOPS OVER LINE

      144

      L4

      市

      SHI, ichi

      city, market

      5 strokes

      吹田市 SUItaSHI Suita City

      市場 SHIJŌ market

      魚市 uoichi fishmarket

      On the basis of the bronze form Image, Mizukami interprets the graph as consisting of 兮, meaning ‘flat’ or ‘balanced’ (according to Katō, CO 丂 originally referred to waterweed spreading flat over the surface, see 130), and 止 143 ‘stop’, giving an extended meaning of ‘stop/stay [at a place] and exchange items of equal value’, reflecting an ancient barter system for goods. Ogawa is in general agreement. Shirakawa, less convincingly, takes the bronze form as a picto-graph depicting a large sign to show where a market was being held. MS1995:v1:436-7; OT1968:313; SS1984:362-3; KJ1985:194. We suggest taking lower part as ‘cloth’ 巾 1232 and 亠 as a top hat.

      Mnemonic: GO TO MARKET TO BUY CLOTH AND TOP HAT

      145

      L1

      矢

      SHI, ya

      arrow

      5 strokes

      一矢 ISSHI retaliation

      矢印 yajirushi arrow sign

      矢先に yasaki ni just on the point of

      OBI