.

bowl, plate

      5 strokes

      灰皿 haizara ashtray

      大皿 ōzara large dish

      皿洗い saraarai dishwashing

      OBI forms , show deeply curved bowl on raised base. Later forms , show slightly more elaborate versions, probably being wrought in metal. MS1995:v2:900-02; QX2000: 179; MR2007:316; OT1968:690.

      Mnemonic: DISH WITH VERTICAL STRIPES

      301

      L4

      仕

      SHI, JI, tsukaeru

      serve, work, do

      5 strokes

      仕事 SHIgoto work

      仕方 SHIkata way, means

      仕組み SHIkumi arrangement

      Bronze form onwards has 亻 41 ‘person’, and 士 521 (‘male’/‘samurai’) as phonetic with associated sense either ‘work, serve’ (Katō, Yamada), or ‘stand’ (Tōdō, Mizukami). Work in ancient China was often done by slaves, but later by servants, and so ‘serve’. Meanings given by Schuessler include ‘take office, serve, retainer, knight’. KJ1970:452; YK1976:214; TA1965:104-06; MS1995:v1:44-5 AS2007:465.

      Mnemonic: SAMURAI IS PERSON WHO WORKS AND SERVES

      302

      L4

      死

      SHI, shinu

      die, death

      6 strokes

      死体 SHITAI corpse

      死去 SHIKYO death

      若死に wakajini early death

      OBI ; seal . OBI left-hand shows skeletal remains (possibly occipital bone); right-hand (person) is phonetic with associated sense i] ‘flesh rots and drops to ground’, giving ‘corpse turns to bleached bones free of flesh’ (Katō), or ii] ‘divided up into small pieces’, giving ‘die and bones come apart’ (Tōdō). In ancient China a person was only seen as dead when the corpse became a clean skeleton after exposure to weather (Mizukami). By block script, left-hand changed to 歹, and right-hand to 匕. Modern form comprises , known as ‘meatless bones’ (cf ‘meaty bone’ 骨 877), with ‘fallen person’ 匕 (see 258). KJ1970:466-7; SS1984:364; MS1995:v1:710-11; TA1965:762-4.

      Mnemonic: PERSON FALLS DEAD, SOON TO BE BARE BONES

      303

      L4

      使

      SHI, tsukau

      use, servant

      8 strokes

      使用 SHIYŌ use

      大使 TAISHI ambassador

      小使 kozukai servant, porter

      OBI , seal . OBI forms, showing a hand holding a writing brush are difficult to differentiate from those for 吏 2074 ‘official’, 事 309 (‘thing’, ‘act’), and 史 523 ‘scribe, history’. In early Chinese, two of the four underlying words (those represented by 使 and 史) were homophones. At seal stage, the graph 使 emerged differentiated in shape from the other three, having 亻 41 ‘person’, and 吏 2074 as phonetic and semantic meaning ‘work’, giving ‘one who does (allocated) work’; sense then narrowed to ‘(an) official’. MS1995:v1:60-61, 26-8; BK1957:256; KJ1970:450; OT1968:59; AS2007:350, 465-6.

      Mnemonic: OFFICIAL PERSON USES SERVANT

      304

      L4

      始

      SHI, hajimeru/maru

      begin, first

      8 strokes

      始終 SHIJŪ throughout

      始動機 SHIDŌKI starter motor

      始めて hajimete for the first time

      The bronze forms and have 女 together with elements corresponding to 台 (not 183) or 以 443 respectively as the phonetic, both having similar pronunciation in early Chinese. The phonetic has an associated sense of ‘first daughter’, leading to a more generalised meaning of just ‘first’. MS1995:v1:320-21; KJ1970:14; OT1968:255; YK1976:220. We suggest taking 台 as ‘nose’ ム and ‘mouth’ 口 22.

      Mnemonic: A WOMAN’S FACE BEGINS WITH A NOSE AND MOUTH

      305

      L3

      指

      SHI, yubi, sasu

      finger, point

      9 strokes

      指示 SHIJI indication

      親指 oyayubi thumb

      指図 sashiZU directions

      A late graph (Shuowen) . Has 扌 34 ‘hand’, and 旨 1401 as phonetic. Though the modern meaning of 旨 is ‘good/tasty’, here it has an associated sense of ‘become divided up, separate’ – a reference to the fingers (Katō, Yamada) or ‘show, point to’ (Ogawa). KJ1970:466; YK1976:222; OT1968:412. We suggest taking 匕 (see 258) as a person sitting, and 日 as ‘sun’ 66.

      Mnemonic: PERSON SITS POINTING WITH FINGER AT SUN

      306

      L3

      歯

      SHI, ha

      tooth, teeth

      12 strokes

      歯根 SHIKON dental root

      歯医者 haISHA dentist

      歯車 haguruma toothed gear

      Traditional 齒. OBI form depicts mouth, showing teeth. Bronze form has phonetic 止 143 (‘stop’) added as top component, as in the modern graph, with associated sense ‘be lined up’ (Katō, Yamada), or ‘stay, stop’ (Mizukami, Tōdō). (Tōdō says sense is teeth ‘stay in one place’ while chewing). MS1995:v2:1526-7; KJ1970:469-70; YK1976:224; TA1965:69-71; MR2007:249. We suggest taking 止 in its meaning ‘stop’, 米 as ‘rice’ 220, and the enclosure as a mouth.

      Mnemonic: TEETH ENSURE RICE STOPS IN MOUTH

      307

      L1