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367
丁
CHŌ, TEI
block , exact
L1
2 strokes
CHŌDO exactly
TEINEI civility
CHŌme city block
OBI ; seal . The OBI form shows a nail head
(typically squared, as at that stage of script a
rounded shape was difficult), whereas the seal
form shows a side view. Through later general
development of the script, the determinative
16 ‘metal’ was added to create NJK as
an unambiguous way of writing ‘nail’. Note
too the reading TEI, as in teinei ‘polite’, ‘careful’.
MS1995:v1:4-5; MR2007:514; KJ1970:940;
YK1976:372.
Mnemonic: BLOCK IS EXACT TO A ‘T’.
368
L1
帳
CHŌ
register, drape
11 strokes
teCHŌ notebook
CHŌba counter, desk
kaya* mosquito net
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Generally taken
as 1232 ‘cloth’, with 189 ‘long’ as phonetic
with associated sense ‘pull taut’ (later 775),
originally referring to a curtain pulled around
a bed as a screen; Tōdō, in contrast, includes
in a word-family meaning ‘long’, to give ‘long
hanging cloth’. Not clear whether the sense
‘record book/accounts book’ is an extended
usage (records written on cloth?) or a loan
usage. KJ1970:702-3; YK1976:366; OT1968:318;
TA1965:348-9.
Mnemonic: LONG CLOTH DRAPE USED AS
REGISTER
369
L3
調
CHŌ, shiraberu, totonoeru
investigate, tone,
adjust, tune
15 strokes
CHŌSEI adjustment
shirabe investigation
CHŌSHI tone, condition
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 118
‘words, language’, and 532 (‘around’), here
as phonetic with associated sense ‘harmonise’
(Katō, Yamada) or ‘extend thoroughly’ (Ogawa,
Tōdō). Though these two interpretations of
the phonetic differ, the former is in line with
the modern Japanese meaning totonoeru
‘arrange’, the latter with shiraberu ‘investigate’.
KJ1970:514; YK1976:369; OT1968:935;
TA1965:179-83.
Mnemonic: INVESTIGATE BY TALKING
AROUND
370
追
TSUI, ou
chase, pursue
L1
9 strokes
TSUIKYŪ inquiry
TSUIHŌ banishment
oiharau chase off
OBI ; bronze . Has 85 ‘go/walk’, and
(CO ‘buttocks’) as phonetic, which is generally
taken as having associated sense ‘follow/
continue from behind’ (Yamada, Katō, Mizukami).
In Tōdō’s word-family ‘follow a route’.
Analysing the occurrence of this graph in
OBI contexts, Qiu gives a similar but more
specific meaning to , i.e. ‘pursue someone’s
troops’. MS1995:v2:1290-91; KJ1970:659-60;
YK1976:370; TA1965:682-5; QX2000:213. We
suggest taking as ‘buttocks’ with a funny
little tail.
Mnemonic: PURSUE MOVING BUTTOCKS
WITH A FUNNY LITTLE TAIL
The 200 Third Grade Characters 135