480531170

134
合
GŌ, KATSU, au/waseru Alternatively, taken as 22 ‘mouth; speak’, and
meet, join, fit
as phonetic with associated sense ‘reply’,
L 4
6 strokes
giving ‘reply (to questions)’. ‘Meet, put together,
join’ are extended senses if the first view above
GŌRIrationality
is followed, or loan uses in relation to the
KASSENbattle
second. MR2007:323; OT1968:166; SS1984:317;
hanashiaidiscussion
MS1995:v1:212-3.
OBI ; bronze . In one view, seen as pictograph
of a receptacle with lid (Ogawa).
Mnemonic: COVER FITS OVER A RECEPTACLE
135
谷
KOKU, tani
valley, gorge
L 3
7 strokes
YŪKOKUdeep ravine
tanisokovalley bottom
Hasegawaa surname
OBI ; bronze ; seal . Views differ. In one
view, upper strokes in OBI and bronze are seen
as water flowing, and as a (mountain) spring
(Gu). Another view sees mountain slopes and
valley depression (Shirakawa). Yet again, the
136
L 5
国
KOKU, kuni
country, region
8 strokes
GAIKOKUoverseas
KOKKAstate
kuniguninations
OBI ; bronze ; seal ; traditional OBI
form has 545 ‘halberd, arms’, and lower left
here indicating ‘boundary’ to make up ,
in one view meaning ‘defend defined area with
arms’ (Shirakawa treats the area more specifically
as fortified town). Used in the sense ‘state’
upper strokes are treated as meaning ‘open
up’ (reduplication of 70 ‘divide up, open up’),
combining with 22 ’mouth, cavity’ as semantic
and phonetic to give ‘wide open mouth’
(Katō); in this view, ‘mountain valley’ seems
to be taken as an extended sense. Mizukami
agrees broadly, but notes ‘cave from which
spring water emerges’ as alternative meaning.
MR2007:450; SS1984:320-21; OT1968:946;
KJ1985:573.
Mnemonic: DOUBLY WIDE OPEN VALLEY
MOUTH
already from the Shang Dynasty. In bronze,
or probably added to emphasize boundaries.
is considered to represent a word in
the same Chinese word-family as 828 ‘area,
limits’ (Schuessler). There is an alternative
interpretation of (see 828), but still includes
the meaning ‘defined area’ as in the above
view. MR2007:477; SS1984:321; KJ1970:28;
YK1976:188-9; MS1995:v1:258-9,536-7;
AS2007:268. We suggest taking the enclosed
part of the modern form as 15 ‘jewel’.
Mnemonic: A COUNTRY IS AN ENCLOSED
JEWEL
137
黒
KOKU, kuroi
black
L 4
11 strokes
KOKUBANblackboard
KOKKAIBlack Sea
kuroMAKUmanipulator
Bronze ; seal ; traditional . Interpretations
differ somewhat (the top part of the
graph is taken as representing, for instance,
a primitive window or chimney or grille), but
there is broad agreement that the depiction
in the original bronze forms involves flames
(now in its short form 8) and smoke rising
and causing an accumulation of soot, hence
the extended meaning ‘black’. KJ1970:961;
OT1968:1165; SS1984:322. We suggest taking
238 as the graph for ‘village’, comprising
63 ‘field’ and 64 ‘ground’.
Mnemonic: GROUND IN BURNT FIELD IS
BLACK
The 160 Second Grade Characters 79