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290
L4
研
KEN, togu
hone, refine
9 strokes
KENSHŪ training
togikawa strop
KENKYŪSHA researcher
A late graph (Shuowen) . Has 47 ‘stone’,
and 幵 / (a CO representing two level stakes
with a meaning of ‘level’) as phonetic with
associated sense ‘(make) flat, level’; in Tōdō’s
word-family ‘divide in two; gap’ (here, eliminate
gaps or undulations). ‘Refine’ is an extension
of basic meaning ‘smoothe out’. KJ1970:375;
YK1976:157-8; TA1965:601-06.
Mnemonic: HONE STONE WITH TWO FUNNY
STICKS
291
L4
県
KEN
prefecture
9 strokes
MieKEN Mie Prefecture
KENREI prefectural bylaw
KENCHŌ Prefectural Office
Bronze depicts a severed head suspended
upside down in a tree, as a punishment.
Traditional form (which distorts the ‘tree’
component in bronze), has 855 (‘joined
threads’) as phonetic with associated sense
‘hang’. Came to be used in Chinese for a
similar-sounding word meaning ‘district,
county’, and then in Japanese for ‘prefecture’.
MS1995:v2:1020-22; KJ1970:379; YK1976:158;
OT1968:787. For the modern form we suggest
taking the top element as 76 ‘eye’ and the
remaining strokes as a stand.
Mnemonic: KEEP AN EYE ON THE STAND AT
THE PREFECTURAL SHOW
292
L3
庫
KO
storehouse
10 strokes
SHAKO garage, depot
SŌKO warehouse
REIZŌKO refrigerator
Bronze . Has 127 ‘building’, and 33
(‘vehicle, chariot’) as semantic and also as phonetic
indicator. (The associated early Chinese
pronunciation of was closer to SJ KO than
SHA – the latter reading reflects a later Chinese
pronunciation). Originally, a building to house
chariots; later, became more general in meaning.
MS1995:v1:452-3; KJ1970:390; YK1976:168;
AS2007:182.
Mnemonic: VEHICLE LEFT IN STOREHOUSE
293
L3
湖
KO, mizuumi
lake
12 strokes
BIWAKO Lake Biwa
KOGAN lake shore
KOSUI lake
According to Mizukami, possibly originates
in the simpler bronze form (= , now an
unrelated NJK meaning ‘trade’). consists
of 42 ‘water’, with (NJK originally ‘flesh
beneath jaw’) as phonetic with, here, associated
sense ‘large’. MS1995:v2:766-7, 1072-3;
KJ1970:393; YK1976:168. We suggest taking
as 18 ‘moon’ along with121 ‘old’.
Mnemonic: OLD MOON SEEN IN WATER OF
LAKE
116 The 200 Third Grade Characters