480531170

1593
籍
SEKI
meaning is ‘written texts’, originally on bamboo
register
strips bound together. Note: the OBI form of
L1
20 strokes
is analysed as being either a pictograph of a
farmer plowing a field, or 699 (‘plow’, based
KOSEKIfamily register
on pictograph), with 346 (olden times, past’),
SHOSEKIpublications
the latter element itself either as onomatopoeic
KOKUSEKInationality
for the sound of a plough as it digs up the soil,
or as phonetic with associated sense ‘pile up’
(MS1995:v2:1054-6). TA1965:364-8; OT1968:759;
SS1984:510; KJ1970:616. We suggest taking the
modern form as ‘bamboo’ 58, ‘the past’
346, and multi-branched ‘tree’ / 73.
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has 58
‘bamboo’, combining with (CO, ‘plow a field’;
see Note below) with associated sense taken
either as i] ’pile up, accumulate, put together’
(Ogawa, Tōdō, Shirakawa), giving ‘bamboo
(writing) strips bound together with leather’, or
ii] ‘written texts’ (Katō); either way, the resultant
Mnemonic: REGISTER OF BAMBOO AND
MULTI-BRANCHED TREES FROM PAST
1594
拙
SETSU, mazui, tsutanai
clumsy, poor
L1
8 strokes
SESSHAI, me (humble)
SETSURETSUnaclumsy
SESSOKUrough-and-ready
1595
窃
SETSU, nusumu, hisoka
steal, stealth
L1
9 strokes
SETTŌtheft
HYŌSETSUplagiarism
SESSHUtheft
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional .
A difficult graph and analyses are diverse. The
traditional form corresponds to the seal version
above. Another seal form, listed by Katō,
consists alternatively of’ 860 ‘hole’, over ,
which appears to be a reinforcement of ‘hole,
cave, cavity’, both these being over 220
‘rice’, with overall meaning ‘rice stored in cave/
hole’. This combines with (see Note below),
which is taken in one view as phonetic with
associated sense ‘rob, plunder’, to give ‘plunder
rice stored in cave’. Gu, alternatively, takes it as
semantic and phonetic, interpreting the overall
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen). Has34 ‘hand’,
and 36 (‘emerge, put out’) as phonetic with
associated sense taken either as i] ‘collapse, hollow’
(Ogawa, Tōdō), or ii] ‘short, inferior’ (Katō),
either way giving ‘actions with the hand are
inferior’, i.e. ‘clumsy’. OT1968:407; TA1965:676;
KJ1970:304-5.
Mnemonic: PUT OUT A CLUMSY HAND
meaning as ‘bore into cave/hole and steal’. A
further variation is offered by Qiu, who is supportive
of taking as ‘rat makes a hole to bite
things and steal rice’. By extension, ‘plunder;
furtively’. The cumbersome traditional form
(22 strokes) was already dropped in favor of
the much simpler , in the first Jōyō Kanji List
promulgated in 1923. Note: the meaning of is
interpreted differently as ‘mythical creature with
large head and tail’ (Mizukami), or ‘(type of)
insect’ (Gu, Shirakawa), while the view referred
to by Qiu appears to take as ‘rat’. KJ1970:619-
20; OT1968:741; GY2008:948; SS1984:513;
QX2000:230; MS1995:v2:960-61; KZ2007:1914.
We suggest taking the modern form as ‘hole’ (if
somewhat flattened) 860 and ‘cut’ 173,
and in accord with the probable item stolen,
namely 220 ‘rice’.
Mnemonic: STEALTHILY CUT HOLE TO STEAL
RICE
The Remaining 1130 Characters 473