Bronze ; seal ; traditional 體. Has 骨 877 ‘bone’, and 豊 811 (‘abundant’) as phonetic with associated sense i] ‘separate, divide’, giving ‘divide up sacrificial animal carcasse (still with bones attached)’ (Katō), or ii] ‘neatly set out’, giving ‘sacrificial animal carcass with dismembered parts neatly set out’ (noted in Mizukami). The simpler form 体 originally represented a separate word of different pronunciation meaning ‘coarse’, but it appears 体 was adopted later (Ming Dynasty) in popular usage as an abbreviated writing for 體 ‘body’, probably regarded as 亻/人 41 ‘person’ combined with 本 74 ‘basis’. Noted in Kangxi zidian as erroneous in this latter sense, 体 was adopted as official form in the modern period in Japan. QX2000:299, 306-7; ZY2009:v1:21:v4:1567-8; MS1995:v2:1476-7.
Mnemonic: THE BODY IS THE BASIS OF A PERSON
183
L4
台
DAI, TAI
stand, platform
5 strokes
土台 DODAI foundation
台風 TAIFŪ typhoon
台所 DAIdokoro kitchen
Seal ; traditional 臺. Analyses differ. In one view, 壴 ‘big drum’ over 至 886 (‘arrive’) with the sense ‘foot, base’ gives ‘drum stand’ (Ogawa). In another view, upper element is taken as ‘watchtower’ over 至 meaning ‘stay’, giving ‘place to stay and watch out’, i.e. ‘watchtower’ (Mizukami). Later abbreviated shape 台 coincides with a separate graph 台 (originally ‘I, me’ [口 22 ‘mouth, speak’, and 厶 ‘enclose and make one’s own’ as phonetic meaning ‘oneself’]). OT1968:163; MS1995:v2:1092-3,v1:204-5
Mnemonic: A NOSE IS A SORT OF PLATFORM FOR A MOUTH
184
L4
地
CHI, JI
ground, land
6 strokes
地方 CHIHŌ region
地下 CHIKA underground
地元 JImoto locality
Seal . Late graph (Shuowen). Has 土 64 ‘ground’, and 也 (NJK; see Note below) as phonetic with associated sense ‘extend in a meandering way’ (Mizukami); Katō and Tōdō are in broad agreement. Note: 也 was originally pictograph of a slithering snake or – in one view – female genitalia (noted in Mizukami); later borrowed for sound value for several grammatical function words such as ‘be’, ‘also’. MS1995:v1:264-5,24-5; KJ1970:692; TA1965:455-57.
Mnemonic: LAND WITH WRIGGLING SNAKES ON THE GROUND
185
L4
池
CHI, ike
pond, lake
6 strokes
用水池 YŌSUICHI reservoir
電池 DENCHI battery
古池 furuike old pond
Seal . a late graph (Shuowen). Has 氵 ‘water’ 42, and 也 (see 184 Note) as phonetic with associated sense taken as i] ‘extend’, giving original meaning ‘water channel’ (Tōdō), or ii] ‘bank, dyke’, giving original meaning ‘water surrounded by dykes’, and hence ‘marshland’ (Katō). ‘Pond’ is an extended sense. TA1965:528-32; KJ1970:692.
Mnemonic: POND WITH WRIGGLING WATER-SNAKES
186
L4
知
CHI, shiru
know
8 strokes
知識 CHISHIKI knowledge
知的 CHITEKI intellectual
知り合い shiriai acquaintance
Seal . A late graph. Has 口 22 ‘mouth; speak’, and 矢 145 (‘arrow’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘hit the mark’, giving ‘describe spot-on/exactly (like a flying arrow to its target)’, and by extension ‘know’. Alternatively, Shirakawa takes ‘arrow’ as being linked to taking an oath to the deities, and interprets 口 22 in his more usual way as ‘receptacle’; ‘knowing’ is then taken as emerging from the process of oath-taking. 智 is a separate graph (NJK) also meaning ‘know’; lower element is originally not 日 66 ‘sun, day’, but NJK 曰 ‘speak’. MS1995:v2:930-31; TA1965:465-7; SS1984:587.
Mnemonic: IF YOU GOT AN ARROW IN THE MOUTH, YOU’D KNOW ABOUT IT!
187
L4
茶
CHA, SA
tea, annoy
9 strokes
茶わん CHAWAN teabowl
茶々 CHACHA interruption
茶道 SADŌ tea ceremony
Very late graph (probably Tang Dynasty). Qiu notes that originally 荼 – a graph comprising 艹 53 ‘plant, grass’, and 余 820 (‘ample’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘bitter’ – denoted a certain bitter plant, and that the modified shape 茶 was apparently devised to refer clearly to another type of plant with bitter leaves, i.e. tea. The occasional use of 187 as ‘make fun of’ or ‘irritate’ may relate to the bitter connotations. QX2000: 326. Though the lower element in the modern form is not quite 余 820, ‘ample’, it may be helpful.
Mnemonic: ALMOST AMPLE TEA PLANTS
188
L4
昼
CHŪ, hiru
noon, daytime
9 strokes
昼食 CHŪSHOKU lunch
昼行性 CHŪKŌSEI diurnal
昼間 hiruma daytime
Bronze ; seal ; traditional 晝. The bronze form has 日 66 ‘sun, day’, and an upper element comprised of a rare graph which has 聿 400 ‘writing brush’ over 乂 (‘mix; cut’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘sun, red, bright’, giving ‘sun makes bright’; meaning extended to ‘daytime’ in contrast to darkness of night (Katō). In another view, the same upper element is equated with 畫 (traditional form of 画 91 ‘picture, stroke’), but like Katō also as phonetic, in this case with associated sense ‘shine with red light’, giving ‘sun shines making Heaven and Earth bright’ (Mizukami). 昼 is based on cursive equivalents of 晝. MS1995:v1:620-22; SS1984:595; KJ1970:491-2. We suggest taking the modern form as 尺 895 ‘measure’, with 日 66 ‘sun’ and
