8 strokes
泣訴 KYŪSO imploring
泣き虫 nakimushi ‘cry baby’
泣き出す nakidasu burst into tears
OBI ; seal forms , . OBI and first seal form have 目 76 ‘eye’ with 水 42 ‘water, liquid’ (here, tears), while the second seal form has氵/水 ‘water, liquid’ with 立 77 (‘stand’), generally taken as a phonetic with associated sense ‘tears’, to mean ‘cry, weep’. On the basis of historical pronunciation criteria, though, Tōdō considers the above analysis questionable, and includes in his word-family ‘put between and obstruct’, interpreting 泣 as denoting crying interrupted with loud gasps, i.e. ‘sob’. KJ1970:261; MS1995:v2:740-41; YK1976:125; OT1968:565; TA1965:815-20.
Mnemonic: STAND WEEPING WATERY TEARDROPS
480
L3
救
KYŪ, sukuu
rescue, redeem
11 strokes
救命ブイ KYŪMEIBUI lifebuoy
救援 KYŪEN rescue, relief
救い出す sukuidasu extricate
Bronze ; seal . Has 攴/攵 112 ‘strike with whip/stick; compel’, and 求 478 (originally fur garment, now meaning ‘request’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘stop, rest’, to give ‘cause to stop’. ‘Help’ is a loan usage. MS1995:v1:572-3; KJ1970:263; YK1976:126.
Mnemonic: BEING BEATEN – REQUEST RESCUE
481
L3
給
KYŪ, tamau
supply, bestow
12 strokes
供給 KYŌKYŪ supply
月給 GEKKYŪ monthly pay
来給え kitamae Come!
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 糸 29 ‘thread’ (originally silk thread), and 合 134 (‘join’) as semantic and phonetic, to give ‘join up silk threads’. This involved quickly joining up broken silk threads from cocoons in the silk manufacturing process, and so ‘supplement, make up (a deficiency)’ evolved as an extended use. In modern Japanese, also employed occasionally for the verbal suffix –tamau, based on the older honorific verb tamau ‘to bestow’ (of a superior to an inferior). OT1968:776; KJ1970:260-61; YK1976:127.
Mnemonic: SUPPLY JOINED THREADS
482
L1
挙
KYO, ageru, kozotte
raise, offer, act, perform, together
10 strokes
挙手 KYOSHU raising hands
選挙 SENKYO election
一挙に IKKYO ni at a stroke
Bronze ; seal ; slightly modified traditional form 擧. Has 手 34 ‘hand’, and , which is the traditional form of 与 2047 ‘give’, serving here in the majority view as phonetic with associated sense ‘lift up high’ (Ogawa takes as ‘join together and raise up’). Overall meaning is ‘lift up high with the hands’. Bronze form has many hands, so ‘all together’ may be an extended sense. KJ1970:268; TA1965:423-8; YK1976:129; OT1968:411. Suggest taking modern form as hand 手 and as laden table.
Mnemonic: HAND RAISES LADEN TABLE – SOME ACT!
483
L1
漁
GYO, RYŌ
fishing
14 strokes
漁船 GYOSEN fishing boat
漁師 RYŌSHI (pro) fisherman
漁業 GYOGYŌ fishery
OBI ; seal . Has 氵 42 water, and 魚 109 ‘fish’, to give ‘fish in water’, and by extension ‘catch fish’. Some of the OBI occurrences have up to four fish; the bronze form has two hands added. As proposed by Ogawa and Yamada, the SJ reading RYŌ – less to be expected than the more regular reading GYO, and difficult to explain in terms of the early Chinese pronunciation – probably arose through confused association with 猟 SJ RYŌ ‘hunt’ 2090. MS1995:v2:794-5; OT1968:606; YK1976:130; KJ1970:269.
Mnemonic: FISHING MEANS CATCHING FISH IN WATER
484
L3
共
KYŌ, tomo
together
6 strokes
共通 KYŌTSŪ commonality
共食い tomogui cannibalism
共同 KYŌDŌ joint-
OBI ; bronze ; seal . The OBI through to seal forms all have two hands offering up an object which appears to be typically interpreted as a jade disc with a center hole (Mizukami, Katō, Yamada); Ogawa is more cautious, and takes it in more general terms as some type of object. ‘Provide’ is an extended sense; the meaning ‘all together’ is found from pre-Han times (Schuessler). MS1995:v1:102-3; KJ1970:234-5; YK1976:130; OT1968:97; AS2007:256-7. Suggest taking the upper part as 艹 53 ‘plant’ and the lower part as a table.
Mnemonic: PLANT AND TABLE GO TOGETHER
485
L3
協
KYŌ
cooperate
8 strokes
協定 KYŌTEI agreement
協力 KYŌRYOKU cooperation
協会 KYŌKAI association
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). The underlying word seems to have been represented in writing already in Shang times, as there is an OBI form comprising 力 78 ‘strength’ tripled listed by Mizukami, meaning ‘collect strength and put together’. The graph 十 35 ‘ten, many’ was added at seal stage to reinforce
