480531170

2037
唯
YUI, I, tada
OBI ; seal . Has 22 ‘mouth’, with
solely, only, merely,
L1
324 (‘bird’) as phonetic, in one view taken
prompt
with associated sense ‘prompt answer’, seen
11 strokes
as ‘acknowledgment’ (Mizukami), or ‘agreement’
(Ogawa). Another view treats ‘bird’
YUIITSUsole, unique
as both semantic and phonetic in function,
tadaima now; “I’m home”
giving ‘birds chirp agreement alike/together’
IIDAKUDAKU readily
(Gu). Later borrowed for similarly pronounced
word meaning ‘just, only’. ‘Prompt’
is now rare. MS1995:v1:236-7; OT1968:186;
GY2008:1241.
Mnemonic: SOLE BIRD HAS MOUTH, AND
ONLY MERELY NEEDS PROMPTING
2038
L1
幽
9
YŪGENmystery
YŪKYŌ lonely place
YŪKAI nether world
YŪ, kasuka
dark, obscure, faint,
wretched
strokes
OBI ; seal . Consists of 8 ‘fire’, (misinterpreted
in Shuowen as 26 ‘mountain’) with
29 (‘very fine/barely visible threads’) taken
either i] as semantic and phonetic, giving
‘light of fire is dim’ (Ogawa), or ii] as phonetic
with associated sense ‘black and unclear,
dim’, giving ‘burning fire produces smoke and
blackened effect’ (Mizukami, Katō). By extension,
this led on to a whole raft of meanings
such as ‘dark, profound, dim, obscure, faint,
wretched, lonely’. It can also have connotations
of other-worldiness and mysteriousness.
MS1995:v1:448-9; KJ1970:33; T1968:324.
Though the element ‘mountain’ is a result
of misinterpretation, it is useful as mnemonic.
Mnemonic: FOLLOW FAINT THREADS
THROUGH DARK AND WRETCHED MOUNTAINS
2039
L1
悠
11
YŪZENcalm
YŪCHŌ leisure
YŪKYŪ eternity
YŪ
composed, ample,
distant, long time
strokes
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Consists of
164 ‘feelings, heart, mind’, with (CO,
‘remove dirt/defilement’; see Note below’) as
phonetic with associated sense taken in one
view as ‘shake, jolt’, giving ‘one’s heart shakes,
lament’ (Ogawa). This associated sense is
noted by Mizukami along with another, viz.
‘continue in tenuous way’, giving ‘feelings
continue in delicate and unhurried man-
ner’. Note: is comprised of () 112 ‘hit,
strike’, with left-hand element interpreted
as either ‘remove dirt’, giving overall meaning
‘remove dirt’, or ‘water drips down’ (some
bronze occurrences of have three short
vertical strokes instead of one [] to the
right of 41 (‘person’), lending support to
interpretation as ‘water’), giving ‘cleanse body
by letting water drip onto it’. Both interpretations
are noted in Mizukami. OT1968:373;
MS1995:v1:512-3,568-9; KJ1970:25-6. We suggest
taking the upper part as 41 ‘person’,
as long stick, and strike .
Mnemonic: STRIKE PERSON WITH LONG
STICK FOR A LONG TIME, BUT FEELINGS STILL
COMPOSED
610 The Remaining 1130 Characters