a vulgar form until it was officially accepted as a separate graph in modern times. In Japanese, meaning range is ‘wear, arrive, adhere’. QX2000:323-4; SS1984:592; YK1976:359. We suggest taking the upper part as slight variant of 426 羊 ‘sheep’, and lower as 目 76 ‘eye/see’.
Mnemonic: I SEE SHEEP ARRIVING, WEARING THEIR FLEECE
365
L4
注
CHŪ, sosogu
pour, note
8 strokes
注目 CHŪMOKU attention
注射 CHŪSHA injection
注釈 CHŪSHAKU notes (text)
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 氵 42 ‘water’, and 主 315 (now ‘main/master’ but originally a stemmed lamp) as phonetic with associated sense ‘continue’, to give meaning ‘continuation of water droplets’ (Katō, Ogawa). An alternative analysis is given by Tōdō, who includes 注 in his word-family ‘stand firmly/upright’ on the basis that water pouring down can be seen as a vertical column. The early meaning of 主 is stemmed lamp, and this may reinforce ‘column’. KJ1970:506-7; YK1976:362; OT1968:567; TA1965:281-4.
Mnemonic: MASTER POURS WATER IN A COLUMN, AND TAKES NOTES
366
L3
柱
CHŪ, hashira
column, pillar
9 strokes
柱石 CHŪSEKI pillar
電柱 DENCHŪ telegraph pole
氷柱 tsurara* icicle
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 木 73 ‘tree, wood’, and 主 315 (‘main’, originally a stemmed lamp) as phonetic with associated sense ‘stand firmly’; in Tōdō’s word-family ‘stand firmly/upright’. YK1976:362-3; OT1968:499; TA1965:281-4.
Mnemonic: MASTER WOODEN PILLAR
367
L1
丁
CHŌ, TEI
block, exact
2 strokes
丁度 CHŌDO exactly
丁寧 TEINEI civility
丁目 CHŌme city block
OBI ; seal . The OBI form shows a nail head (typically squared, as at that stage of script a rounded shape was difficult), whereas the seal form shows a side view. Through later general development of the script, the determinative 金 16 ‘metal’ was added to create NJK 釘 as an unambiguous way of writing ‘nail’. Note too the reading TEI, as in teinei ‘polite’, ‘careful’. MS1995:v1:4-5; MR2007:514; KJ1970:940; YK1976:372.
Mnemonic: BLOCK IS EXACT TO A ‘T’.
368
L1
帳
CHŌ
register, drape
11 strokes
手帳 teCHŌ notebook
帳場 CHŌba counter, desk
蚊帳 kaya* mosquito net
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Generally taken as 巾 1232 ‘cloth’, with 長 189 ‘long’ as phonetic with associated sense ‘pull taut’ (later 張 775), originally referring to a curtain pulled around a bed as a screen; Tōdō, in contrast, includes 帳 in a word-family meaning ‘long’, to give ‘long hanging cloth’. Not clear whether the sense ‘record book/accounts book’ is an extended usage (records written on cloth?) or a loan usage. KJ1970:702-3; YK1976:366; OT1968:318; TA1965:348-9.
Mnemonic: LONG CLOTH DRAPE USED AS REGISTER
369
L3
調
CHŌ, shiraberu, toto-noeru
investigate, tone, adjust, tune
15 strokes
調整 CHŌSEI adjustment
調べ shirabe investigation
調子 CHŌSHI tone, condition
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 言 118 ‘words, language’, and 周 532 (‘around’), here as phonetic with associated sense ‘harmonise’ (Katō, Yamada) or ‘extend thoroughly’ (Ogawa, Tōdō). Though these two interpretations of the phonetic differ, the former is in line with the modern Japanese meaning totonoeru ‘arrange’, the latter with shiraberu ‘investigate’. KJ1970:514; YK1976:369; OT1968:935; TA1965:179-83.
Mnemonic: INVESTIGATE BY TALKING AROUND
370
L1
追
TSUI, ou
chase, pursue
9 strokes
追究 TSUIKYŪ inquiry
追放 TSUIHŌ banishment
追い払う oiharau chase off
OBI ; bronze . Has 辶 85 ‘go/walk’, and (CO ‘buttocks’) as phonetic, which is generally taken as having associated sense ‘follow/continue from behind’ (Yamada, Katō, Mizukami). In Tōdō’s word-family ‘follow a route’. Analysing the occurrence of this graph in OBI contexts, Qiu gives a similar but more specific meaning to 追, i.e. ‘pursue someone’s troops’. MS1995:v2:1290-91; KJ1970:659-60; YK1976:370; TA1965:682-5; QX2000:213. We suggest taking 匕 as ‘buttocks’ with a funny little tail.
Mnemonic: PURSUE MOVING BUTTOCKS WITH A FUNNY LITTLE TAIL
371
L3
定
TEI, JŌ, sadameru
fix, establish
8 strokes
定期 TEIKI fixed term
不定 FUTEI indefinite
決定 KETTEI decision
Bronze ; seal . Has 宀 30 ‘roof, building’, and 正 43 (‘correct’) as phonetic, generally taken as having associated sense ‘prepare a house’, and by extension the more generalized meanings ‘arrange’, ‘decide’. Mizukami also lists second interpretation, i.e. ‘stay on in a house’. Ma interprets as ‘person entering a house’ by taking lower element in his proposed OBI forms as 足 54 ‘foot/leg’ (q.v.). In the latter cases,
