480531170

2022
盲
MŌ, mekura
blind
L1
8 strokes
MŌMOKUblindness
MONMŌilliteracy
mekuraBAN‘rubber stamp’
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 76 ‘eye’,
with 985 (‘lose, die, disappear, not have’),
taken in one view as semantic and phonetic,
giving ‘blind’ (Ogawa). Alternatively, is
regarded as phonetic in function with associated
sense ‘hidden’, giving ‘hidden and
not visible’, with ‘blind’ as an extended sense
(Tōdō). OT1968:696; TA1965:445-7.
Mnemonic: DEAD EYES ARE BLIND
2023
耗
MŌ
waste, decrease
L1
10 strokes
SHŌMŌconsumption
SONMŌwastage, loss
MAMŌwear and tear
Seal ( 秏 ) ; a late graph (Shuowen). The
seal form has 87 ‘grain’ (generic), with
230 (‘hair, fur’) as phonetic with associated
sense taken in one view as ‘empty’, giving
original meaning ‘grain missing, no grain’,
and by extension ‘empty; run out, use up’
(Katō). Shuowen defines 秏 as ‘type of rice’,
which is how the graph and underlying word
may have been used around the time of
compilation of Shuowen, but is originally
a pictograph of a grain plant with the head
leaning down, and is generally understood
2024
L1
猛
11
MŌ
fierce, raging, brave,
strong
strokes
MŌRETSUfierceness
MŌJŪfierce animal
MOSA*a stalwart fellow
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 19
‘dog’, with (‘first child; beginning’; see Note
below) as phonetic with associated sense ‘vigorous,
strong, violent’, giving ‘fierce/violent
dog’. Meanings such as ‘brave’ are extended
senses. Note: analyses of (NJK, ‘beginning’)
as ‘grain’ as a general term encompassing
millet, wheat, and rice, not just rice alone;
as above, Katō takes in the general sense.
Another commentator treats here as
semantic and phonetic meaning ‘small’, and
considers it to denote ‘small grains of rice’
(sic; Ogawa). As for the change in shape
to , with the determinative changed
from ‘grain’ to ’plow’ (CO, 699), this
appears to have been a change made at
some point in block script. Kangxi zidian
has entries for both 秏 and ; in the entry
for the former, it is noted that ‘texts nowadays
all use ’. KJ1970:172-3; OT1968:808;
MS1995:v2:960-61,1054-5; SK1984:588;
DJ2009:v2:565; ZY2009:v3:869,1000;. We suggest
taking as multi-branched tree 73.
Mnemonic: MULTIPLE BRANCHES ON TREE
WASTE AWAY TO LOOK LIKE HAIRS
differ. In one view, comprises 27 ‘child’,
with 300 ‘bowl, cover’ taken as phonetic
with associated sense ‘first’, giving ‘first child’
(Mizukami). Alternatively, is taken as semantic
meaning ‘cover’, giving ‘child emerges
(from beneath cover)/grows’ (Tōdō). Another
view takes semantically as a bowl for
bathing, giving ‘newborn baby’s first bath’,
and hence ‘first’. Schuessler says ‘eldest (of
siblings); first’. OT1968:645; GY2008:1291;
KJ1970:769; MS1995:v1:352-3; TA1965:449-54;
AS2007:381.
Mnemonic: FIERCE DOG GETS TO BOWL
BEFORE BRAVE INFANT
The Remaining 1130 Characters 605