480531170

1631
L1
挿
SŌ, sasu
insert
10 strokes
SŌNYŪinsertion
SŌWAepisode
sashiEillustration
Seal ; a late graph (Shuowen); traditional
. Has 34 ‘hand’ and CO 臿 as semantic
and phonetic. 臿 is analysed in one view as
a pounder (840 [‘dry; shield’; see Note
below]) with a mortar ( see 677), giving
‘pierce’ as the original meaning (Tōdō). In
another analysis, the element combining
with is not ‘mortar’ but ‘two hands’,
though in similar vein the meaning is ‘pierce,
pound’ (Ogawa); these two shapes quite
resemble each other in shape in seal, but
more so in block script, hence the potential
for divergence in interpretation as well as
confusion in writing. The later shapes and
, with a slanted top stroke, are just minor
variants of 臿 . Note: is considered originally
to depict a bifurcated branch; usually
interpreted as a weapon for stabbing, but
here appears to represent something slightly
different but with a broadly similar domestic
purpose, i.e. a pole with handles for piercing
or pounding. TA1965:848-51; OT1968:423,834;
MS1995:v1:446-7; GY2008:1404. We suggest
taking as 49 ‘thousand’ and 66 ‘day’.
Mnemonic: HAND INSERTS A THOUSAND
ITEMS A DAY
1632
桑
SŌ, kuwa
mulberry
L1
10 strokes
SŌENmulberry farm
kuwairolight yellow
kuwabatamulberry field
OBI ; seal . The OBI form is a pictograph
of a tree with big leaves on bent branches,
and the seal form also may be regarded as a
graph having the same structure. Defined in
Shuowen as ‘tree which silkworms feed on’,
and hence ‘mulberry’. Katō, though, prefers
to take the seal form not as a pictograph, but
as comprising 73 ‘tree’, combined with 叒
(see Note below) as an abbreviation of 896
(‘young’) as phonetic with associated sense
‘pliant, flexible’, giving ‘tree with soft buds
which appear in spring’. Note: on the basis of
its bronze and OBI forms, 叒 is interpreted as
meaning i] ‘big, pliant branches and leaves
of mulberry tree’, or ii] ‘flexible shamaness
performing ritual dance for deities’; a graph
which also possibly served as the ancestral
form of at the OBI stage before becoming
divergent in shape in bronze (Mizukami).
MS1995:v1:666-7,196-7,v2:1112-3;
KJ1970:427-8; GY2008:1169. We suggest
taking as ‘hand’ 2003.
Mnemonic: IT TAKES THREE HANDS TO PICK
MULBERRIES FROM THE TREE
1633
掃
SŌ, haku
sweep
L2
11 strokes
SŌJIKIvacuum cleaner
ISSŌsweeping away
hakidasusweep out
Seal ( 埽 ) . Shuowen has 埽 , comprising
64 ‘earth, soil’ and 106 ‘broom’ (see) to give
‘sweep soil/dirt’, and this is generally regarded
as the ancestral form of , which has re-
placed by 34 ‘hand’. The change is difficult
to date, but it is clear that was already being
used in Han times. Katō prefers to take
in as serving not a semantic but phonetic
role with associated sense ‘make good, put in
order’, giving ‘adorn and clean by hand’. The
first view noted here seems more persuasive.
DJ2009:v3:1120; QX2000:202; OT1968:420;
GY2008:1182; FC1974:v1:940-41.
Mnemonic: SWEEP BY HAND USING A
BROOM
484 The Remaining 1130 Characters