480531170

sense, i.e. ‘test by comparison’. Later, generalised
to ‘imitate, learn’. In modern Japanese,
the form with 78 ‘strength, effort’ is the
official one; and it may be taken as ‘imitate by
effort’. Yamada regards ‘efficacy’ as loan usage.
698
L3
厚
KŌ, atsui
thick, kind
9 strokes
BUatsu nabulky, thick
KŌSEIwelfare
KŌJŌkindness
Bronze ; seal . Has ‘cliff, crag’, and element
representing an inverted watchtower (see e.g.
MS1995:v1:572-3; YK1976:178; KJ1970:173-4;
ZY2009:v2:448,v1:77.
Mnemonic: EXCHANGE OF STRENGTH
PROVES EFFECTIVE
132) which is taken as phonetic with associated
sense ‘pile up’ or ‘build up in thick layers’, to give
‘cliffs/crags one on top of the other’; by extension,
‘thick’. KJ1970:281-2; MS1995:v1:184-5;
YK1976:179. Suggest as 66 ‘day’ and 27
‘child’.
Mnemonic: KIND BUT ‘THICK’ CHILD PLAYS
DAILY BY CLIFF
699
耕
KŌ, tagayasu
of plow, and 1575 (‘well’, q.v.) as phonetic
till, plow
with associated sense ‘manage the land’, to give
L3
10 strokes
‘manage the land with a plow’. KJ1970:160;
YK1976:182; OT1968:807. We suggest taking
KŌCHIarable land
the left hand part as a multi-branched ‘tree’
KŌSAKUfarming
73.
KŌUNKIcultivator
Mnemonic: PLOW AROUND WELL AND
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has , a CO the MULTI-BRANCHED TREE
bronze form of which is based on pictograph
700
L3
鉱
KŌ
mineral, ore
13 strokes
KŌBUTSUmineral
KŌSEKIore
TANKŌcolliery
Late graph, no seal form. Traditional form 鐄 .
Originally written 磺 (CO; a seal form for this
does exist) or . 磺 has 47 ‘stone, rock’,
and (traditional form of 133 ‘yellow’) as
semantic and phonetic meaning ‘yellow’, to
give ‘yellow rock’. Used originally for yellowish
701
L3
構
KŌ, kamau/eru
build, to mind
14 strokes
KŌSEIconstruction
KEKKŌstructure, fine
kokorogamaemental readiness
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 73 ‘wood,
tree’, and (CO ‘pile’, originally two-tiered
bamboo basket) as phonetic with associated
mineral-bearing rock (ore), and then extended
to ‘ore’ in general. In the other similar graph
, which importantly provides the link to the
modern form, (traditional form of 127
‘wide, extensive’) was substituted – probably
as a phonetic loan – for 133 based on their
near-homophony in early Chinese. At a later
stage, the determinative in was replaced
by 16 ‘metal’, to give , which has been simplified
in modern Japanese to . KJ1970:325;
YK1976:185; OT1968:1039; AS2007:285,266.
Mnemonic: EXTENSIVE METAL ORE
sense ‘put together and pile up’, giving ‘put
pieces of timber together and pile up’, i.e. ‘build,
construct’. Extended use in figurative senses
such as ‘take a posture’, and ‘pose as’. KJ170:404;
YK1976:185; OT1968:518; MS1995:v1:110-11.
We suggest taking as 1575 ‘well’ and
706 ‘again’.
Mnemonic: MIND ABOUT WELL BEING BUILT
OF WOOD AGAIN
The 185 Fifth Grade Characters 225