480531170

654
L1
恩
ON
favor, kindness
10 strokes
ONJINbenefactor
ONshirazuingrate
ONgaeshireturn favor
Seal ; late graph (Shuowen). Has 164 ‘heart’,
and 643 (‘rely on’) as phonetic with associated
sense ‘grieving heart’, to give ‘heart
which grieves for others’, and by extension
‘benevolent towards, take pity, favor, kindness’.
KJ1970:62; YK1976:75-6; OT1968:366.
Mnemonic: A HEART THAT RELIES ON KINDNESS
655
L3
可
KA, -beki/ku/shi
approve, can, should
5 strokes
KANŌpossible
KAKETSUapproval
iubekishould say
OBI ; seal . Has 22 ‘mouth; say’, and
enclosure element (meaning disputed).
Usually taken as 丂 (‘floating waterweed’, 130)
as phonetic with associated sense ‘permit,
allow’ (Mizukami considers possibly through a
convoluted process, figuratively reflecting the
irregular shape of the waterweed), to give ‘(verbally)
permit’. In this analysis, ‘can’ may be taken
as an extended sense. However, Qiu takes as
originally showing not waterweed but something
carried over the shoulder, specifically an
ax handle (later written ; see 86 also), and
Schuessler agrees, considering the function of
here was to indicate that ‘ax handle’ was only
to be ‘mouthed’, i.e., to be read as phonetic loan
for the near-homophone of abstract meaning
(‘can, permit’). MS1995:v1:204-5; YK1976:78;
KJ1970:121; OT1968:159; QX2000:224;
AS2007:275. Suggest taking as a variant of
367 ‘exact’.
Mnemonic: SAY EXACTLY WHAT CAN AND
SHOULD BE APPROVED
656
L3
仮
KA, KE, kari
temporary, false
6 strokes
KASETSUhypothesis
kari niprovisionally
KEBYŌfeigned illness
Bronze ; seal ; traditional Originally,
this graph was written . Bronze form consists
of i] two hands, with ii] an additional element
(usually taken as ‘cliff’ or ‘cave dwelling’)
with two short horizontal strokes or dots
inside. There is some divergence in analysis.
One element is often taken as phonetic with
associated sense ‘false, deception; substitute’,
to give the overall sense ‘wear a mask’ (Katō,
Mizukami, Yamada, Ogawa). The basis for the
inclusion of ‘mask’ here may not seem clear,
but both Shirakawa and Tōdō also support this.
Tōdō includes (and ) in a word-family
meaning ‘cover something underneath’, an
interpretation which gives credible support
for the sense ‘wear a mask’. Abstract meanings
such as ‘imitation, provisional, temporary’ may
be seen as extended senses. The element 41
‘person’ was added at the seal stage, with no
significant change of meaning. The substitution
of for to create can be traced
back to Han period cursivized clerical script
forms. KJ1970:120; MS1995:v1:182-4,198-201;
YK1976:79; OT1968:48; SS1984:71; TA1965:381-
3; SK1984:62-3. We suggest taking as the
same-shaped 393 ‘oppose’.
Mnemonic: PERSON OPPOSED TO EVEN
TEMPORARY FALSEHOOD
The 185 Fifth Grade Characters 213