niwa
garden, courtyard
9 strokes
家庭 KATEI household
庭園 TEIEN garden
庭師 niwaSHI master gardener
Seal . Has 广 127 ‘house, building’, and 廷 1742 (‘imperial court’), here as phonetic with associated sense ‘extend/spread in a straight line/evenly’ (Mizukami, Tōdō). Originally, the building was typically a palace, and the graph referred to a level open space in a courtyard where people often gathered for formal occasions. Used with a similar meaning historically in Japan, but then also came to denote ‘garden’. MS1995:454-5; TA1965:455-59; OT1968:329.
Mnemonic: PALACE COURTYARD HAS FINE COVERED GARDEN
373
L1
笛
TEKI, fue
flute, whistle
11 strokes
汽笛 KITEKI steam whistle
笛手 TEKISHU flutist
口笛 kuchibue whistle
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 58 ‘bamboo’, and 由 421 (‘reason’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘extract’ (Tōdō, Ogawa) or ‘clear’ (Katō); Tōdō takes it as extracting the material from inside the bamboo joints to make it hollow, while Katō takes as meaning a flute which produces clear sound. TA1965:185-90; OT1968:749; KJ1970:720.
Mnemonic: THERE’S A REASON WHY BAMBOO IS USED AS A FLUTE
374
L3
鉄
TETSU, kurogane
iron, steel
13 strokes
鉄板 TEPPAN iron/steel plate
地下鉄 CHIKATETSU subway
鉄橋 TEKKYŌ iron bridge
Seal ; traditional 鐵 . Generally taken as 金 16 ‘metal’, with (CO ‘big’) (the minor change from 大 56 [‘big’] in top of seal form to 十 35 [‘ten’] in block script is not significant) as phonetic with associated sense range ‘black soil, black, reddish-black’ (Mizukami, Yamada, Ogawa), though Katō regards the right-hand element as having semantic and phonetic role, meaning ‘big’. In favour of interpretation of right-hand element as ‘black, reddish black’ here is the existence of a related word in Chinese of the same or similar pronunciation represented by the graph 驖 meaning ‘reddish-black horse’. The black or reddish-black metal is usually taken as ‘iron’, which takes on a reddish-black colour when rusted. MS1995:v2:1378-9; YK1976:377; OT1968:1040; KJ1970:723; ZY2009:v4:1560. We suggest taking the modern right-side as 失 529 ‘lose’.
Mnemonic: LOST METAL PROVES TO BE IRON
375
L4
転
TEN, korogeru/garu
rotate, tumble, roll
11 strokes
転送 TENSŌ forwarding
運転 UNTEN driving
自転車 JITENSHA bicycle
Bronze ; seal ; traditional 轉. Has 車 33 ‘cart/vehicle’, and 專 925 (‘sole’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘move/change’, thus ‘move things elsewhere’. ‘Go round/revolve’ is an extended usage. 転 is based on cursive form. MS1995:v2:1272-3; KJ1970:630; YK1976:380. We suggest taking the right-hand part as ‘two’ 二 65 noses ム.
Mnemonic: VEHICLE ROLLS OVER TWO NOSES – OUCH!
376
L4
都
TO, TSU, miyako
capital, big city
11 strokes
都市 TOSHI city
首都 SHUTO capital
都合 TSUGŌ circumstances
Bronze ; seal . Widely taken as 邑 (阝 as a right-hand component 376) ‘village/town’, with 者 314 (‘person’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘gather, accumulate’ (Mizukami, Katō, Yamada). In the right-hand side of the bronze and seal forms, (corresponding to 邑 or right-hand 阝), an element for ‘kneeling person’ is discernible (in 邑, corrupted in shape to 巴). Original graph meaning ‘enclosed area where many people are gathered’ became extended to ‘capital’ (city where the Emperor resides). MS1995:v2:1332-3; KJ1970:497; YK1976:382. Note: In Japanese and Chinese script, 阝 is used in compound graphs for two separate determinatives: one as described immediately above, while the other (full form: 阜 1907) occurs as a left-hand component, as in for example 院 249, meaning ‘piled-up earth, terraced land, mound’.
Mnemonic: CAPITAL IS A VILLAGE ON THE RIGHT WITH MANY PERSONS
377
L4
度
DO, TAKU, tabi
degree, times
9 strokes
程度 TEIDO degree
温度 ONDO temperature
一度 ICHIDO once
Seal (bronze similar). Taken as 又 2003 ‘hand’, with abbreviated form of 庶 1480 (‘many’) (Katō, Yamada, Tōdō) – or variant of 石 47 (‘stone’) – (Ogawa) as a phonetic, both with ngers of same associated sense ‘spread out fingers of the hand’, to give ‘measure with the hand’. The hand, with spread-out thumb and middle finger, was moved from one point to the next as a rough way of measuring a short distance. Later took on a generalized meaning ‘measure’ and not just linear, hence ‘degree’, etc. KJ1970:612; YK1976:383-4; TA1965:332-5; OT1968:156. We suggest taking 广 127 as ‘building’ and central part as two ‘tens’ 十 35 with ‘one’ 一 1.
Mnemonic: HAND MEASURES TWENTY-ONE DEGREES IN BUILDING
378
L3
投
TŌ, nageru
throw, cast
7 strokes
投手 TŌSHU baseball pitcher
投票 TŌHYŌ vote
投げ出す nagedasu throw out
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has扌 34 ‘hand’, and 殳 170 (originally hand holding stick) as
