480531170

1203
L1
丘
KYŪ, oka
hill, hillock
5 strokes
SAKYŪsand dune
DANKYŪterrace, beach
KYŪRYŌhillock
OBI ; seal . The OBI form points to a likely
pictographic origin; typically taken as depicting
low-lying land with hillocks on two sides
(in the two-dimensional representation), and
signifying ‘hillock’. Katō prefers to interpret
it as , i.e. just a horizontal line represent-
ing the ground, beneath 224 (‘north’)
as phonetic with associated sense ‘bulging
upwards’, to give ‘hillock’; this interpretation
involving may be suggested by the seal
form (and hence favored by Shuowen), but the
OBI forms suggest otherwise. MS1995:v1:6-7;
QX2000:175; MR2007:389; SS1984:171;
TA1965:144; KJ1970:660-61. We suggest take
upper part as variant ax 1233, and a baseline/level.
Mnemonic: REDUCE HILL TO LEVEL GROUND
WITH AX!
1204
朽
KYŪ, kuchiru
decay, rot
L1
6 strokes
RŌKYŪdecrepitude
FUKYŪimperishability
kuchibadead leaves
Bronze ; seal forms ( 㱙 ), ( ). The
left-hand element in bronze and the first seal
form (later 歺 /), which originally represents
skeletal remains, came to be used in graphs
relating to death (e.g. 302 ‘die’), bones, or
major injuries; and here combines with 丂 (CO,
‘floating waterweed’, see 130) as phonetic with
associated sense ‘rot, decay’ (additional senses:
Mizukami adds ‘twist, bend’, while Ogawa adds
‘smells’), giving overall basic meaning ‘decayed
skeletal remains’, and by extension ‘rot, decay’.
Shuowen lists 73 ‘wood/tree’ as an alternative
to 歺 / as the left-hand component, to give
, originally meaning ‘wood rots’ and then likewise
generalized to ‘rot, decay’. DJ2009:v2:338;
MS1995:v1:708-10; KJ1970:264,165-6;
OT1968:488.
Mnemonic: TWISTED WEED ON ROTTING TREE
1205
L1
臼
6
KYŪ, usu
mortar, quern,
hand mill
strokes
KYŪHŌTAImortar corps
hikiusuhand mill, quern
ishiusustone mill, mortar
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Originally
a pictograph of a mortar, i.e. hand mill – a
concave receptacle for pounding grain.
DJ2009:v2:580; GY2008:277; OT1968:834. We
suggest taking the graph as a ‘broken day’
( 66 ‘day’), i.e. day-break.
Mnemonic: AT DAY-BREAK ALL HANDS TO
THE MILL
1206
糾
KYŪ
entwine, examine
L1
9 strokes
FUNKYŪcomplication
KYŪDANimpeachment
KYŪMEIexamination
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has ‘thread’
29, and CO 丩 898 ‘twist, make rope’ (original
OBI form depicts two vines or similar connecting)
as semantic and phonetic, giving ‘twist,
plait’. Some scholars see the meaning ‘examine’
as extended, others as borrowed. OT1968:767;
MS1995:v1:12-3; SS1984:174; AS2007:320. Take
丩 as pitchfork.
Mnemonic: PITCHFORK GETS ENTWINED
WITH THREAD – NEED TO EXAMINE
The Remaining 1130 Characters 359