480531170

726
L4
質
SHITSU, SHICHI, CHI
quality, pawn
15 strokes
HINSHITSUquality
SHICHIyapawnshop
hitoJICHIhostage
Bronze ; seal . Has 10 ‘shell currency,
shell’, and 斦 ‘two curved-handle axes’ (see
1233) taken typically as phonetic with an
associated sense ‘correspond, equivalent’, to
give ‘[item] equivalent to money’, i.e. article for
727
L1
舎
SHA
house, quarters
8 strokes
SHUKUSHAlodgings
SHAEIbilleting
inaka*countryside
Bronze ; seal ; traditional Interpretations
differ. One view takes the lower part as
consisting of 22 ‘mouth’, a graph also used
for actions performed with the mouth, and here
taken as ‘breathe’. The second element is
820 (here in an abbreviated shape; now means
‘ample’ but originally meant a roof supported
on a pillar, indicating a light building structure
such as a summerhouse) as phonetic with an
associated sense ‘be at leisure, relax’; by extension,
came to be used in the sense ‘stay for
the night’, and then ‘place where people stay’
728
L1
謝
SHA, ayamaru
apologize, thank
17 strokes
SHAZAIapology
SHAREIremuneration
KANSHAgratitude
OBI ; seal . Seal form has 118 ‘words;
speak’, and 893 (‘shoot arrow’) as phonetic
with associated sense typically taken as ‘depart’
(possibly with a semantic link also, with regard
to an arrow leaving a bow), to give ‘words of
farewell’. The meaning is considered to be
extended to ‘words of thanks’ in the context
of leaving after receiving a gift. Gu also makes
this link, though he also proposes the above
OBI equivalent, interpreting it as two hands
pawning. Mizukami, however, lists a credible
alternative analysis which takes 斦 semantically
as representing two equal things, signifying
one asset (an object of value) equal to another
(its equivalent in money). Assessment
of the quality of items accepted for pawning
was – and still remains – an important consideration
in pawnbroking, and so ‘quality’ can
justifiably be regarded as an extended sense.
MS1995:v2:1244-6; KJ1970:487; YK1976:235-6.
Mnemonic: PAWN TWO QUALITY
AXES – NEED TO ‘SHELL OUT’ TO REDEEM
(Katō, Yamada). The same overall meaning is
reached by another analysis (Tōdō, Ogawa),
which differs in taking the lower element not
as ‘mouth (etc.)’, but as ‘enclosure’ (see
e.g. 84); this view then takes the latter element
as indicating ‘place’, to give ‘place to relax’. This
latter interpretation follows that in Shuowen,
which often based script analysis on the seal
forms, and the seal form here would seem to
permit analysis as ‘enclosure, place’. However,
the older forms (bronze) clearly have ‘mouth’,
and so the former analysis seems more appropriate.
KJ1970:882; YK1976:238; TA1965:339;
OT1968:175; AS2007:456. We suggest taking
the elements of the modern form as cover