480531170

570
L3
置
CHI, oku
put, place, set up
13 strokes
HŌCHIleaving as is
okimonoornament
okibarepository
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has ‘net’ (as
modern component, usually ), and 192
(‘direct, upright’) as semantic and phonetic,
meaning ‘set up, put up’. The resultant meaning
is ‘set up a net (to catch birds, etc.)’, then
extended (generalized) to ‘set up, place’.
KJ1970:690; YK1976:357; OT1968:796.
Mnemonic: SET UP NET BY PUTTING IT IN
PLACE DIRECTLY UPRIGHT
571
仲
CHŪ, naka
relationship
L3
6 strokes
CHŪSAImediation
nakōdo*go-between
nakayokucordially
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 41 ‘person’,
and 49 (‘middle’) as semantic and phonetic,
meaning ‘one who is between his elder and
younger brother (s)’; by extension, meaning
generalized to ‘one who stands between
two others’. YK1976:360; MS1995:v1:50-51;
OT1968:50; AS2007:621.
Mnemonic: PERSON IN MIDDLE MAKES FOR
GOOD RELATIONSHIP
572
貯
CHO, takuwaeru
store, save
L3
12 strokes
CHOKINsavings
CHOZŌ storage
CHOSUISŌwater-tank
OBI ; seal . Has 10 ‘shell currency’, and
宁 (‘frame for winding and storing thread’) as
semantic and phonetic, meaning ‘accumulate
and store’, to give ‘accumulate and store shell
currency’; later generalized to ‘accumulate,
save’. KJ1970:702; MS1995:v2:1236-7, v1:358-9;
YK1976:363. Suggest taking 宁 as roof 30
and 367 ‘exact’.
Mnemonic: STORED SHELL-MONEY FITS
EXACTLY UNDER ROOF
573
兆
CHŌ, kizashi/su
sign, omen, trillion
L3
6 strokes
CHŌKŌsign
ZENCHŌ omen
OKUCHŌthe masses
OBI ; seal . Pictograph showing cracks on
turtle shell heated for divination, an important
ritual and predictive tool for the Shang
rulers. Long curved line in OBI divides the two
main parts of such a text, which was in parallel
questions. Based on pattern of cracks when the
shell was heated, diviners would predict what
was believed to be response of the gods. Turtle
shells and shoulder bones of deer, etc. were
used as convenient relatively flat surfaces for
writing at that time, and some three thousand
years later provide evidence of the earliest
known stage of Chinese writing. Some seal
forms have (‘divination cracks’ > ‘divination’:
see 96) added. Because originally showed
a shell used for divination, it acquired the
extended sense ‘sign, omen’. ‘Trillion’ is simply
loan usage. KJ1970:301; MS1995:v1:92-3, 172-3;
YK1976:364.
Mnemonic: CRACKED BACK-TO-BACK
TURTLE-SHELLS SHOW BILLION OMENS
190 The 200 Fourth Grade Characters