KEN, KON, tatsu/teru
build, erect
9 strokes
建設 KENSETSU construction
建立 KONRYŪ* erection
建物 tatemono a building
Bronze forms /; seal . Has 聿 400 (writing brush held upright), and 廴 – a determinative apparently set up in error by the Shuowen compiler on the basis of the small seal form for this graph, but the older bronze form shows the original way of writing featured 聿 with not 廴 but as semantic and phonetic, meaning ‘move slowly’ (Yamada, Katō, Mizukami) or 辵 ‘go, move forward’ (the full form of 辶/辶: see 581) (Mizukami). Overall meaning is ‘move writing brush’; the brush is held upright for writing, and so usage later extended to ‘hold/stand timber (etc.) upright/erect’, and by further extension ‘build’. MS1995v1:460-1; KJ1970:383-5; YK1976:157,383-5.
Mnemonic: HAND HOLDS PEN ERECT WHILE MOVING IT
499
L3
健
KEN, sukoyaka
healthy
11 strokes
健康 KENKŌ health
健全 KENZEN soundness
壮健 SŌKEN healthy
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 亻 41 ‘person’, and 建 498 (‘erect, build’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘strong’, to give ‘strong person’; meaning later generalized to ‘strong’, and by extension ‘healthy’. KJ1970:385; YK1976:159; OT1968:74.
Mnemonic: HEALTHY PERSON STANDS ERECT
500
L4
験
KEN
examine
18 strokes
試験 SHIKEN examination
実験 JIKKEN experiment
経験 KEIKEN experience
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen); traditional form 驗. Has 馬 210 ‘horse’, and 僉 (CO, ‘people agree on opinion’). The associated meaning of 僉 here is disputed: one analysis takes it as phonetic with associated sense unclear (Katō, Yamada), regarding ‘examine’ as a loan usage. Tōdō, though, includes it in a word-family with associated sense ‘collect and bring together/under control’, an interpretation giving ‘examine’. KJ1970:376-7; YK1976:161; TA1965:842-6. Suggest taking as ‘odd’ elder brother 兄 114 under cover .
Mnemonic: ODD ELDER BROTHER EXAMINES HORSE UNDER COVER
501
L3
固
KO, katai/meru/maru
hard, firm, solid
8 strokes
固体 KOTAI solid state
強固 KYŌKO solidity
固まり katamari lump, mass
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 囗 84 ‘enclosure’ (taken here as walls of a castle or citadel), and 古 121 (‘old’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘solid, hard, firm’, to give ‘defend solidly with castle walls’ or ‘defend castle walls solidly’. The meaning later became generalized to ‘hard, solid’; in Tōdō’s word-family ‘hard, solid’. KJ1970:392; YK1976:167; TA1965:385-90; OT1968:205.
Mnemonic: OLD ENCLOSING WALL IS FIRM AND SOLID
502
L1
功
KŌ, KU
merit, service
5 strokes
成功 SEIKŌ success
功罪 KŌZAI pros and cons
功労 KŌRŌ stalwart service
Bronze ; seal . Has 力 78 ‘strength, effort’, and 工 125 (‘adze’ or other tool) as phonetic with associated sense ‘work’ or ‘make’, to give ‘put effort into work’, and by extension ‘meritorious’. MS1995:v1:138-9; KJ1970:406; YK1976:173; OT1968:124.
Mnemonic: STRENGTH AND USE OF TOOL MEANS MERITORIOUS SERVICE
503
L4
好
KŌ, suku/ki, konomu
like, fine, good
6 strokes
好意` KŌI goodwill
好きな suki na nice, liked
好色 KŌSHOKU amorousness
OBI ; seal . Has 女 37 ‘woman’, and 子 27 ‘child’. Scholars are divided over the function of 子 here. The traditional view (as in Shuowen) is to take 子 semantically as ‘child’, to give ‘woman looks after child’, and by extension favourable senses such as ‘like, favor’, ‘good’ (Ogawa, Tōdō). Alternatively, 子 is seen as phonetic, with associated sense ‘beautiful’, to give ‘beautiful woman’, and then by extension ‘like, favor’ (Katō, Yamada). The view taking 子 as phonetic, though, is less persuasive. Mizukami lists both interpretations. OT1968:252; TA1965:226-7; KJ1970:163; YK1976:176; MS1995:v1:310-11; AS2007:273,633.
Mnemonic: WOMAN LIKES CHILD – WHAT A FINE THING
504
L3
候
KŌ, sōrō
weather, sign, ask, serve, suffix
10 strokes
気候 KIKŌ climate
候補 KŌHO candidacy
候文 sōrōBUN historical style
