480531170

ing it a distinct possibility that ‘roast a
lamb’ may have been the original meaning,
then generalized to ‘roast, bake’, but most
commentators do not favor this analysis,
probably in part at least because Shuowen
defines as ‘newborn lamb’. Amniotic fluid
takes its name from the Greek term amnos
(lamb), and features in some graphs relating
to human birth (see 432), so it is tempting
to interpret the four dots in the modern
form as droplets of amniotic fluid. However,
the seal form above shows clearly that it is
definitely the fire determinative. Shirakawa
supports ‘newborn lamb’ on the basis of
certain seal forms, the shape of which might
be interpreted as ‘lamb/sheep standing’.
Note, though, that Ma and Gu give much
older OBI forms that clearly have as the
bottom element. A later popular variant of
is , with 䍃 ‘bake pottery/earthenware’
(CO; see 2052 Note) as the lower element.
OT1968:743; SS1984:852,302-3; MR2007:294;
GY2008:1121. We suggest taking