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138
L5
今
KON, KIN, ima
now
4 strokes
KONSHŪthis week
KONDOthis time
imagoroaround now
The OBI forms such as are taken by Katō and
Ogawa to depict a roof covering some sort of
object; Shirakawa interprets as a lid and stopper
over a container. Either way, the meaning
‘now’ represents a loan usage. KJ1970:175-6;
OT1968:42; SS1984:325.
Mnemonic: NOW IS THE TIME TO COVER THAT
OBJECT
139
才
SAI
talent, age, -year
L3
3 strokes
TENSAIgenius
GOSAIfive years old
SAINŌtalent
Etymology uncertain. Early forms , . There
are numerous proposals for this graph, which
appears from OBI onwards. Among them, Ma
notes the view that it depicts a plant appearing
above the surface for the first time. Ogawa
and Shirakawa, by contrast, see it as a length
140
L3
細
SAI, hosoi, komakai
slender, fine
11 strokes
SAIKUcraftsmanship
hosonagaislender
komagomain detail
of wood secured in the ground, with a horizontal
length or bundle to form a cross shape;
Shirakawa then hypothesizes that this served
as a marker of sacred places. Katō follows
the hypothesis of a noted Chinese scholar,
who believes it depicts a river blocked up,
with disastrous consequences. It is unclear
as to how it gained its present meanings, but
probably through loan usage. MR2007:341-2;
OT1968:399; SS1984:334; KJ1970:420-21.
Mnemonic: PROPPING UP THE CROSS
SHOWS TALENT
Late graph (Shuowen). Seal form has 29
‘thread’ as semantic, and 囟 (CO originally a
pictograph of skull or fontanelle) as phonetic,
with associated sense ‘thin, slender’. The change
from 囟 to in standard script is due either
to script regularization or mistaken analysis.
KJ1970:469; YK1976:198; SS1984:338. We suggest
taking as 63 ‘field’.
Mnemonic: SLENDER PATH THREADS
THROUGH FIELD
141
作
SAKU, SA, tsukuru
make, make up
L4
7 strokes
SEISAKUproduction
SAKUHINa work
DŌSAaction
Originally the graph was just , with OBI forms
such as showing what is seen as timber
being cut with an ax. Some bronze forms have
a hand appended; later this was dropped, and
the ‘person’ determinative 41 was added.
‘To make’ evolved as an extended meaning.
As the phonetic in , also has associated
sense of ‘modified, not genuine’ (cf English
‘made up’). MS1995:v1:18-20, 54; KJ1970:435-6;
OT1968:25,53. We suggest taking as a saw.
Mnemonic: PERSON USES SAW TO MAKE
THINGS
80 The 160 Second Grade Characters