480531170

130
考
KŌ, kangaeru
consider
L4
6 strokes
KŌANidea
SANKŌreference
kangaegotoa concern
OBI ; seal . OBI forms are very close to or
the same as those for 638 ‘aged, old’; they
depict an old person with bent back and long
hair, leaning on a stick. At the bronze stage, the
lower element was changed in some cases from
the stick shape to 丂 (CO ‘floating weed’), as in
the seal form. This serves here as phonetic with
associated sense ‘bent over’ (or Ogawa says
‘old’), giving a word for ‘old person’ different in
early Chinese pronunciation from that written
as . was subsequently borrowed for its
sound value to write another word meaning
‘examine, consider’. MR2007:393; OT1968:805;
KJ1970:891-2; MS 1995:V2:1048-51. We suggest
taking (which is actually nicknamed the ‘old
man’ determinative) as ‘entering the ground’
(see ‘ground’ 64), and the lower element as a
(physically) crooked old man.
Mnemonic: CROOKED OLD MAN CONSIDERS
BURIAL IN THE GROUND
131
行
KŌ, GYŌ, iku, yuku, OBI forms such as show this to be based
okonau
L5
on pictograph of crossroads. It has a range of
go, conduct, line extended meanings such as ‘go, travel’, ‘act’,
6 strokes
‘be in line’. In broad terms this same semantic
range can be seen in Chinese from early texts
JIKKŌcarrying out
(OBI) onwards. SS1984:291; KJ1970:157-8;
GYŌRETSUprocession
QX2000:180, 208; AS2007:540. As determinative,
abbreviated to , meaning yukue*whereabouts
‘move/road’.
OBI and bronze forms such as and show
a structure – possibly a watchtower – on top
of a hill or mound, quite similar in shape to OBI
Mnemonic: GO TO THE CROSSROADS IN A LINE
132
高
KŌ, taka, takai
forms for 110 ‘capital’. Ma interprets the bottom
element as representing a hollowed-out
tall, high, sum
L5
10 strokes
room in the hill or mound, while Katō takes it as
an entrance, and Shirakawa alternatively takes
KŌGENplateau
it instead as a receptacle for prayers or incantations.
SAIKŌhighest
MR2007:325-6; KJ1970:164; SS1984:304-5;
takanehigh price
TA1965:262. As with 110, we suggest associating
graph with a tōrō (stone garden lantern).
Mnemonic: TALL LANTERN-LIKE WATCHTOWER
ON A HIGH HILL
133
黄
KŌ, Ō, ki
yellow
L 4
11 strokes
KŌYŌyellow leaves
ŌGONgold
kiiro(i)yellow
Traditional . Some OBI and other early forms
such as and seem to depict a flaming
arrow with what is probably a counterweight,
while others of a different shape, such as ,
are seen as showing a person standing wearing
what is taken to be a jeweled belt. The color
of the flaming arrow or belt by extension was
used for the word for ‘yellow’. MR2007:499-500;
OT1968:1162; KJ1970:962; SS1984:306. Mnemonically
challenging, but we suggest using
53 ‘grass’ and taking as 63 ‘field’ as partial
prompts.
Mnemonic: ARROW BURNS YELLOW WITH
GRASS FROM FIELD
78 The 160 Second Grade Characters