480531170

858
L3
劇
GEKI
drama, intense
15 strokes
GEKIJŌtheater
GEKITEKI dramatic
HIGEKItragedy
Seal ; late graph (later version of Shuowen).
Has () 198 ‘sword, cut’, and (mythical
beast with tiger’s head) as phonetic with associated
sense ‘extremely violent, extreme’. It is
felt to be an erroneous variant, which should
properly have 78 ‘strength, effort’, not
(). Modern scholars typically analyze in terms
of the version with , and this approach is
followed here. Thus taken as ‘effort, strength’,
with as phonetic with associated sense
‘extremely violent, extreme’ (though Ogawa
interprets as ‘busy’), giving ‘exert oneself to the
utmost’. YK1976:152; KJ1970:362-3; SS1984:182-
3; OT1968:122. We suggest taking as tiger
(‘tiger determinative’: see 297 and 1301) with
89 ‘pig’.
Mnemonic: TIGER ATTACKS PIG WITH
SWORD!? WHAT INTENSE DRAMA!
859
L1
激
GEKI, hageshii
agitated, intense
16 strokes
KANGEKIdeep emotion
GEKKA intensification
hageshisaintensity
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 42 ‘water’,
and 敫 (CO, original meaning disputed; ‘shining’
[Gu], or ‘hit’ [Shirakawa says ‘stimulate spirit of
deceased by hitting’]) as phonetic with as-
sociated sense taken as ‘hit hard’ (Ogawa,
Tōdō), giving ‘waves hit hard’, and by extension
‘violent’. Katō takes as ‘rise up’, thus
‘water rises/jumps up’, but the view based on
‘hit hard’ seems preferable. SS1984:197,247;
GY2008:1621; KJ1970:359-60; OT1968:609;
TA1965:267. Take 敫 as 112 ‘strike’, as 223
‘person’, and 69 ‘white’.
Mnemonic: INTENSELY AGITATED WHITE
WATER STRIKES PERSON
860
L1
穴
KETSU, ana
hole
5 strokes
KEKKYOJINtroglodyte
anagoconger eel
anaumestopgap
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). May be pictograph
of entrance; hence ‘cave’ (often used
as dwelling in ancient China) (Tōdō, Ogawa,
Shirakawa). Yamada sees as 30 ‘roof’, here
‘entrance’, with as phonetic with associated
sense ‘dig’, thus ‘dug-out dwelling/cave’.
TA1965:707-10; OT1968:739; SS1984:248;
YK1976:153. Take as ‘eight’ 70.
Mnemonic: EIGHT HOLES IN A ROOF
861
絹
KEN, kinu
silk
L1
13 strokes
KENPUsilk cloth
JINKENrayon
kinumonosilk goods
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 29
‘thread’, and CO (orig. insect type) as semantic
and phonetic with associated sense ‘pale yellow’,
thus ‘pale yellow silk thread/cloth’; later
‘silk’. GY2008:427; KJ1970:381; YK1976:160;
SS1984:262. Take as ‘round’, as ‘meat’ 209.
Mnemonic: SILK THREADS WRAPPED ROUND
MEAT
268 The 181 Sixth Grade Characters