of early usage in this sense; Shirakawa does note the early use of 豫 in the sense ‘beforehand’. MS1995:v2:1226-7, v1:26-7; YK1976:480; OT1968:29; BK1957:41; AS2007:592; SS1984:841-2. We suggest taking the upper part マ as a ‘bent figure’ and thus ‘bent over’, and the lower part as a variant of 丁 367 in its original meaning of ‘nail’.
Mnemonic: THE NAIL IS ALREADY BENT
426
L1
羊
YŌ, hitsuji
sheep
6 strokes
羊皮 YŌHI sheepskin
羊水 YŌSUI amniotic fluid
羊飼い hitsujikai shepherd
OBI ; seal . Originally a pictograph showing head and horns of a sheep; as Ma observes, this stands for the whole animal. Katō and Mizukami follow the view in Shuowen that the tail is shown also, though the longish line in some OBI occurrences could represent the body instead. In compound graphs, the shortened form is often used. MR2007:293-4; YK1976:482; KJ1970:875; MS1995:v2:1038-9.
Mnemonic: THIN-BODIED SHEEP WITH HORNS AND THREE STRIPES
427
L4
洋
YŌ
ocean, Western
9 strokes
西洋人 SEIYŌJIN Westerner
大西洋 TAISEIYŌ Atlantic Ocean
洋食 YŌSHOKU Western food
OBI ; seal . Generally taken as 氵 42 ‘water’, and 羊 426 (‘sheep’) as phonetic with associated sense unclear because this graph originally denoted a river name (Katō, Ogawa, Yamada). Its meaning of ‘sea, ocean’ is regarded as a loan usage. Mizukami, though, takes 羊 here as having the associated sense ‘spacious, expansive’. KJ1970:535-6; OT1968:573; YK1976:483; MS1995:v2:750-52.
Mnemonic: OCEAN OF WHITE SHEEP, NOT WHITE HORSES!
428
L3
葉
YŌ, ha
leaf, generation
12 strokes
針葉樹 SHIN’YŌJU conifer
葉巻 hamaki cigar
葉書 hagaki postcard
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 艹 53 plant/grass, and 枼 (OBI form ; a CO that originally represented thin flat leaves on tree branches, later stylized to 世 344 ‘generation’ qv and 木 73 ‘tree’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘thin and flat’. In Tōdō’s word-family ‘thin’. He suggests that the (lesser and now rare) sense ‘generation, age’ is a metaphoric use based on layers of leaves one on top of the other. OT1968:863; MS1995:v1:662; TA1965:831-3.
Mnemonic: LEAVES ARE GENERATIONS OF PLANTS ON A TREE
429
L3
陽
YŌ, hi
sunny, male, positive
12 strokes
陽極 YŌKYOKU anode
陽気 YŌKI liveliness, good cheer
太陽系 TAIYŌKEI solar system
OBI ; seal . Has 阝 1907 ‘hill, piled-up earth’ and 昜 161 (CO, ‘sun rises’) as semantic and phonetic to give ‘sun shines’ > ‘sunny hill/hillside’. By extension, ‘sun; bright, warm’. A further extended meaning, deriving from ancient Chinese belief, is yang ‘the male/positive principle’ (YŌ), which contrasts with 陰 1635 (IN) ‘the female/negative principle’, as in ‘Yin and Yang’. KJ1970:879; MS1995:v2:1400-02; OT1968:1072.
Mnemonic: POSITIVELY SUNNY RAYS FALL ON HILLSIDE
430
L3
様
YŌ, sama
situation, way, appearance, polite suffix
14 strokes
仕様 SHIYŌ way, means
有様 arisama situation
皆様 minasama everyone (polite)
Seal ; traditional 樣 ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 木 73 ‘tree, wood’, and what is generally taken as 羕 (originally pictograph of big river with tributaries) as phonetic. Yamada takes 羕 as having associated sense ‘resemble’, and Katō says it may have this meaning, but despite the connection with appearance, both consider ‘appearance/form’ as loan usage. Ogawa takes 樣 to be a variant of the NJK 橡 ‘horse chestnut’ or ‘oak’, and likewise takes 様 as a loan for ‘appearance’. As for the use of 様 for‘–sama’ as a polite suffix, there was an independent Japanese word sama ‘condition/appearance/shape’, found from about the tenth century, sometimes written as 様, and its use in modern Japanese for ‘–sama’ as a suffix may be regarded as a loan usage. YK1976:485; KJ1970:875; OT1968:519. We suggest taking the elements as 木 73 ‘tree’, 羊 426 ‘sheep’, and 水 42 ‘water’.
Mnemonic: SHEEP APPEARS TO WATER TREE – AWKWARD SITUATION
431
L4
落
RAKU, ochiru/tosu
fall, drop
12 strokes
落下 RAKKA fall, descent
落ち葉 ochiba fallen leaf
落し物 otoshimono dropped item
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 艹 53 plant/grass, and 洛 (now NJK for ‘Kyoto’; originally a river name) as phonetic, to give ‘leaves fall’, then general sense ‘fall’. KJ1970:894; MS1995:v2:750; YK1976:488. Suggest use 各 462 ‘each’, with 氵 42 ‘water’.
Mnemonic: FROM EACH PLANT, LEAVES FALL LIKE WATER DROPLETS
432
L3
流
RYŪ, RU, nagareru/su
flow, stream
10 strokes
流行 RYŪKŌ fashion
流布 RUFU spread
流れ木 nagaregi driftwood
Bronze
