480531170

118
L5
言
GEN, GON, koto, iu
word, say, speak
7 strokes
HATSUGENstatement
MUGONsilence
kotobaword
Typical OBI form . Interpretations vary. Some
commentators (Karlgren, Ma) take this to be
based on a pictograph of a flute, and treat
‘words, speak’ as a loan usage. Others differ,
typically taking it as 22 ‘mouth’ with a phonetic
element (interpretations of which vary),
but Shirakawa takes it as a tattooing needle
for oath-taking with receptacle for the written
oath. BK1957:80; MR2007:256; KJ1970:386-7;
YK1976:162; SS1984:268-9.
Mnemonic: MOUTH SPEAKS THREE AND A
BIT WORDS
119
L3
原
GEN, hara
plain, origin
10 strokes
GENSHIatom
GENBUNoriginal text
kusaharagrassy plain
There is agreement that the bronze forms
depict a spring gushing out from the foot
of a cliff, and is thus the early version for the
word later represented by 864. This led to
an extended meaning of ‘source/origin’. The
graph acquired the meaning of ‘plain, open
country’, but this is a borrowed sense originally
represented by a much more complex graph.
QX2000:193, 329; SS1984:269; KJ1970:631-2. As
a mnemonic, we suggest taking it as 47 ‘cliff’,
69 ‘white’ and 38 ‘little’.
Mnemonic: ORIGINALLY CLIFF WITH A LITTLE
WHITE SPRING, NOW A PLAIN
120
L3
戸
KO, to
door
4 strokes
KOGAIoutdoors
KOSHUhead of house
toguchidoorway
Based on OBI and bronze pictographs of a
single-leaf door . In similar fashion, the
double-leaf door or gate is represented in modern
script as 231. MR2007:457; QX2000:180;
SS1984:273. Take top horizontal line as a ceiling.
Mnemonic: SINGLE-LEAF DOOR UNDER A
CEILING
121
古
KO, furui
old
L5
5 strokes
FUKKOrestoration
furugiold clothes
KŌKOGAKUarcheology
OBI ; typical bronze forms , . Views vary.
Katō and Tōdō take as showing old skull, ‘old’
then being an extended meaning; Katō notes
that in ancient China skulls were revered as
representing spirits of the dead. Shirakawa
takes the lower element not as ‘mouth, say’
22 but ‘receptacle’, and takes the graph
as showing shield placed over receptacle for
prayers or spells. Analysis along the lines of ‘ten
mouths’ (though a useful mnemonic) in the
sense of ‘relate past’ or similar fails to take into
account the OBI and bronze forms for 35
‘ten’. KJ1970:330-31; TA1965:385-9; SS1984:273-
4. Take as 35 ‘ten’, and 22 ‘say’.
Mnemonic: AN OLD ORAL TALE TOLD TEN
TIMES OVER
The 160 Second Grade Characters 75