480531170

1590
L1
惜
SEKI, oshii/shimu
regret, reluctant
11 strokes
TSŪSEKIdeep regret
oshiGEregret
SEKIBETSUparting regrets
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 164
‘heart, mind, feelings’, and 346 (‘olden times,
past’) as phonetic with associated sense taken
1591
L1
戚
11
SEKI
relatives, sadness,
distress
strokes
INSEKIin-laws
ENSEKIdistant relative
SHINSEKIrelatives
Bronze ; seal . The bronze form has 545
‘halberd’, while the seal form has ‘largebladed
halberd’, changing predominantly to
‘(type of) halberd’ in block script, combining
with 尗 (see Note below ) as phonetic with associated
sense ‘small’, giving ‘small-handled halberd’.
Since , , and all represent types of
halberd, the modest differences in shape and
nuances of meaning inherent in these graphs
are not significant in explaining the original
meaning of the compound graph , though
either as i] ‘painful, stab’, giving ‘painful heart’
(Katō, Gu), or ii] ‘make smaller’, giving ‘make the
heart smaller, feel regret’ (Ogawa). It is possible
that may also play a semantic role, namely
‘past’, for regret is usually felt in relation to
an event that has already occurred, or if one
is reluctant to commit an act that has yet to
occur but one that might later cause regret.
GY2008:1327; KJ1970:616; OT1968:376.
Mnemonic: FEELINGS FOR THE PAST ARE
FULL OF REGRET
they are of relevance in explaining the different
stages of its graphic evolution. ‘Be in distress’
‘sadness’, and ‘relative, kin’ are considered to
be loan usages. Note: analyses of the original
meaning of 尗 vary. Gu takes it to denote digging
up a root vegetable with a pointed implement,
reflecting in broad terms the definition
in Shuowen as ‘bean plant growing’. In contrast,
Mizukami takes to represent a type of halberd;
Shirakawa interprets it as depicting the top
part of a halberd with light reflected from
the blade. In Chinese 尗 is interchangeable
with 1466 (‘uncle’, q.v.) which has a main
meaning of ‘uncle’ (and in the Chinese also a
lesser meaning ‘gather’). FC1974:v1:892,902;
DJ2009:v2:583; MS1995:v1:532531-3;
GY2008:1208; OT1968:395; SS1984:506-7.
Mnemonic: REPLACE HAND OF DISTRESSED
RELATIVE (UNCLE ) WITH HALBERD
1592
L1
跡
SEKI, ato
trace, remains
13 strokes
TSUISEKIpursuit
ashiatofootprint
ISEKIruins
Seal () ; late graph (Shuowen). The entry
heading for (NJK; ‘place where people walk’ >
‘marks left by people walking’, i.e. ‘footprints’) in
Shuowen has (NJK, also ‘footprint’) as being
an alternative form. The current graph 1592,
considered (Kangxi zidian) to be a variant derived
from , consists of 54 ‘foot, leg’, and by
extension ‘walk’, with (NJK, originally ‘armpit’,
now means ‘also’) as phonetic with associated
sense ‘continue’, giving ‘footprints which continue’,
and by extension ‘remains’ (Ogawa). Alternatively,
in analyzing , Mizukami takes the
associated sense of as ‘accumulate’, to give
the original overall meaning ‘accumulated footprints’
(for ), which likewise gives ’remains,
traces’ as an extended sense. DJ2009:v1:140;
ZY2009:v4:1313; MS1995:v2:1288-89;
OT1968:972. We suggest taking the right-hand
element as ‘partly red’ 48.
Mnemonic: THE REMAINS ARE A PARTLY
RED FOOT
472 The Remaining 1130 Characters