480531170

How, though, did the graph come to be
used originally to denote a large, deep bowl
for food? While not entirely clear, possibly
there is a connection to a traditional bowl
cover shape, with the representing raised
wooden crosspieces on top of the cover.
Most Japanese commentators refer to
only as a variant of in its meaning ’well’,
though Ogawa notes donburi as a Japaneseonly
meaning. Note that oyako means ‘parent
and child’, i.e chicken and egg, and tanin
(donburi) means ‘strangers’, in this case egg
and beef. GY2008:57; TA1965:491; OT1968:24.
Mnemonic: SOMETHING’S IN
THE WELL – LOOKS LIKE A DONBURI
1813
那
NA
what? which? why?
L1
7 strokes
DANNAhusband, master
NAHAcity in Okinawa
SETSUNATEKI ephemeral
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has /376
‘village’, with 冄 (CO; ‘head/facial hair hanging
down’; originally [OBI] seems to have
been a pictograph) as phonetic with associated
sense unclear. In Shuowen, defined as
a barbarian state situated in the western
border region. Senses such as ‘what? why?’
may be seen as loan usages. Sometimes
also borrowed for its sound value to
transliterate foreign loanwords (e.g. from
Sanskrit). MS1995:v1:106-7; OT1968:1017;
DJ2009:v2:524; SS1984:666. Take as ‘sword’
198 with two notches.
Mnemonic: WHICH VILLAGE MAKES SWORDS
WITH TWO NOTCHES, AND WHY?
1814
奈
NA
what? how?
L1
8 strokes
IKAN*what? how?
NARAKUhades, hell
NARA* Nara City/Prefecture
Seal () . Seal stage is usually taken as
the oldest, having 73 ‘tree, wood’ with
723 (‘show’, originally pictograph of offering
table/altar) as phonetic (associated
sense unclear). Shuowen denotes this as a
type of fruit tree, possibly a variety of apple.
The change to the shape with 56 ‘big’ as
top element instead of seems to have
become established at clerical script stage.
Interrogative senses such as ‘how?’ should
be seen as loan usages. Gu alone, it seems,
proposes an OBI equivalent. DJ2009:v2:449;
OT1968:247; SS1984:666; SK1984:192;
WD1974:536; GY2008:584-5.
Mnemonic: HOW BIG IS THE ALTAR IN NARA,
AND WHAT IS IT FOR?
1815
梨
nashi, RI
Seal () ; late graph (Shuowen). Seal form
pear, pear tree
has 73 ‘tree, wood’, with