480531170

566
L3
帯
TAI , obi, obiru
belt, zone, obi, wear
10 strokes
CHITAIzone
obiJIobimaterial
NETTAItropics
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 1232
‘cloth’, and a top element showing a waistband
with various items attached, to give ‘belt/sash
to wear round the waist with items attached’.
The curved middle element in the seal form
(in block script) normally means ‘cover’,
but in this graph probably indicates ‘wear
around the waist’. KJ1970:664; YK1976:344-
5; OT1968:317. Suggest taking as 26
‘mountain’ and — as ‘zone’.
Mnemonic: WEAR CLOTH BELT IN MOUNTAIN
ZONE
567
L1
隊
TAI
corps, unit
12 strokes
HEITAIsoldier
GUNTAIarmy
BUTAItroop
Bronze ; seal ; traditional . Has 1907
‘mound, hill’, and / (CO, originally ‘cut up pig/
boar’) as phonetic with associated sense ‘hang
down; fall’ (later written , see 1735), to give
‘fall from a hill’. ‘Group, troops’ are loan usages.
MS1995:v2:1400-01; KJ1970:663; YK1976:345;
OT1968:1072.
Mnemonic: UNIT OF PIG-LIKE SOLDIERS ON
HILL
568
L3
達
TATSU, -tachi
attain, plural suffix
12 strokes
HATTATSUdevelopment
TATSUJINexpert
hitotachipeople
Bronze seal . Has ‘go, move’ 85, and
(‘lamb is born’), which later changed shape
to as phonetic with associated sense ‘pass
through’, to give ‘road passes through without
obstacles’; sense extended through generalization
to ‘go through, reach’. Use for the Japanese
plural suffix ‘-tachi’ is a borrowing. KJ1970:676-
7; YK1976:349; OT1968:1007. Suggest taking
426 ‘sheep’, and as ‘ground’ 64.
Mnemonic: SHEEP MOVE OVER GROUND TO
ATTAIN GOAL
569
単
TAN
simple, single, unit
L3
9 strokes
TAN’Iunit,denomination
TANJUNsimple
TANDOKUsolo
OBI ; seal ; traditional Typically taken as
depicting a two-pronged thrusting weapon for
stabbing an opponent or possibly wild animals
as prey, though Shirakawa interprets as a shield
with embellishments, and Karlgren tentatively
takes as a cicada (later ). The purpose of the
roundish or oblong shape at or near the point
where the two prongs meet is probably to
hold them firmly in place. Overall meaning – if
the first analysis above is followed – is ‘sharp
two-pronged weapon’. The meanings ‘one;
simple’ are loan usages. MS1995:v1:240-41;
KJ1970:681-2; YK1976:350-51; SS1984:579;
BK1956:58-9. Suggest as ‘ten’ 35 and
‘field’ 63, with three strokes a ‘triple’.
Mnemonic: START WITH SINGLE UNIT OF TEN
FIELDS, THEN TRIPLE – SIMPLE!
The 200 Fourth Grade Characters 189