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Archive for the 'Kanji Curiosity' Category

Ferry Crossing: Part 1

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I came across an intriguing word:

過渡 (kato: (1) crossing; ferry; (2) transient; (3) changing old to new)     to pass by + to go through (life)

It catches my attention for several reasons. For one thing, the spelling (but not the pronunciation) of the yomi reminds me of Kato Kaelin, made famous in the days of OJ’s trial, then quickly forgotten. I love finding words such as karen and shaun, whose romanized versions are first names in English.

Those “Names” in Kanji

Beyond that, I like that 過渡 has such disparate definitions: “ferry” versus “transient.” If you think poetically, this makes sense; as a boat glides across the water, its location is impermanent. Modes of transit are inherently transient! At the same time, the logical part of the brain resists seeing a ferry symbolically. It’s a bus on water.

The multidimensionality of 過渡 comes from (TO, wata(ru), wata(su)), which has a rich variety of meanings.

I began thinking about this character because it stars in the haiku on the November page of Alberto’s beautiful calendar. As you’ll see, the kigo (seasonal keyword) in that haiku is 鳥渡る (tori wataru: migrating birds, birds + to cross over). You may be more familiar with the inverse:
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Left Behind: Part 5

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As I mentioned last week, the etymology of (ZAN, noko(ru), noko(su)) contains the idea that it’s cruel to hack someone up until nothing remains. But perhaps that’s a glass-half-empty perspective. The glass-half-full view would be, “Hey, look! Something remains! In fact, what we have here are human remains!”

The kanji figures into many words about things left behind. For instance, take the following expression:

食い残す (kuinokosu: to leave food half-eaten)
     to eat + to leave behind

This verb has a noun form:

食い残し (kuinokoshi: leftover food)     to eat + to leave behind

Just two weeks ago, we saw another word for leftovers:

残り物 (nokorimono: remnant, scraps, leftovers)
     remainder + thing

If you change the first hiragana in 食い残し, you alter the yomi considerably but retain the meaning:
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A Killer Kanji: Part 4

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It’s easy to think that (ZAN, noko(ru), noko(su): to remain) has a soft nuance. After all, this character shows up in words such as 残念 (zannen: regret, to remain + thoughts). But when you learn the etymology of , you’ll see that we have a killer kanji on our hands!

In , says Henshall, the means “death” or “bare bones.” The right-hand side is a halberd (), an ax-like weapon, that has been doubled for emphasis. In , the also means “to cut and kill.” Altogether we have “to kill someone cruelly by cutting them to the bone.” In China, still primarily means “cruel, harm.” Some people think that “to remain” is a borrowed meaning, deriving from the idea of hacking a person till only the bare bones remain.

Several expressions reflect the cruel underpinnings of this kanji:
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Garden-Variety Banking: Part 3

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I don’t know much about banking, but I do know that a bank should inspire trust and confidence. The name of the bank has to be serious, a trustworthy brand in and of itself. My first bank account was at Annapolis Bank and Trust, where they put “trust” right in the name. Other banks go by the names of First Capital Bank, Enterprise National Bank, Premier Service Bank, Tomato Bank.

Tomato Bank?!

Yes, indeed. That’s what you find on Sawtelle Boulevard, a Los Angeles street filled with Japanese businesses:
download

On 宏基銀行

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Stayin’ Alive: Part 2

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Let’s start with a quick quiz. What do you think the following might mean?

残生 (zansei)     to remain + life
生残 (seizan)     life + to remain

To block the answers, I’ll share a photo I took in Los Angeles on Sawtelle Boulevard, a Japanese area that unfortunately extends for just two blocks:

mtversion.jpg

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Crowing About Regrets: Part 1

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I found a word whose yomi sounds like something a rooster might say:

心残り (kokoronokori: regret; reluctance)     heart + remainder

Sample Sentence with 心残り

It’s not quite “cock-a-doodle-doo,” but in some parts of the world roosters are quoted as saying “kookoorookoo,” which we almost have with kokoronokori. I love the string of o sounds in this fun kun-kun combination!

The breakdown is also a winner: regret remains in the heart long after an event has passed. (Of course, anger and sadness also have a great deal of staying power, but somehow regret has prevailed here.)

As heart + remainder = regret, it seems natural that the inverse, 残心, would also describe some emotional state. Not so! The inversion significantly changes both the meaning and the yomi:
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Counting One’s Lucky Stars

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If your life is on the line, that’s a bad thing. But what if that line were the horizon? Then it wouldn’t be a negative idea at all:

生涯 (shōgai: one’s lifetime)     life + horizon

Your lifetime stretches out over the horizon of your life!

Sample Sentence with 生涯


It’s that time of the year when I move a smidge to the right on the horizon of my life. (I’m assuming one reads horizon life lines from left to right, but it’s hard to say for sure!)

Or Is All My Life a Circle? …

This means a few things:
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A Touch of Red: Part 3

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Storks are normally white. And cranes tend to be grey, though blue is also a possibility. So what do you think a red stork or red crane would be?

紅鶴 (benizuru)     red + crane

To block the answer, I’ll share a picture of a hibiscus plant from my garden. I wanted to post this last week to illustrate the discussion of red flowers, but I didn’t get my act together in time.

touchofred.JPG

Seeing these flowers makes me feel happy and fortunate, as if I’m somehow living in Hawaii!

 

Give up? We’re talking about flamingos!

紅鶴 (benizuru: flamingo)     red + crane

This word combines two kun-yomi, beni and tsuru, which has changed to zuru with voicing.

People usually refer to flamingos as フラミンゴ (furamingo). Now you’re linguistically equipped to buy an ornament for your lawn in Japan. (You might need to acquire a lawn, too.)
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Animals in Lipstick: Part 2

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Today we start with a zoology question—or zoology mixed with kanji! What do you get when you combine a fish with a sheep and then add makeup? OK, I realize this sounds like the asinine lipstick debate that dominated the 2008 U.S. elections for too long. In fact, it was so asinine that I can’t even remember why there was a controversy. Glad that’s been pushed out of my head. Now I have about two more brain cells that can accommodate kanji.

Let me restate the question about the dolled-up fish-sheep hybrid. What could the following mean?

鮮紅

As you may know, combines a fish () and a sheep (). Somehow, they join to mean “vivid.” We saw in the first question of the March contest.

On the Etymology of

Meanwhile, as we discussed last week, (KŌ, beni) means “crimson” or simply “red.” With the kun-yomi of beni, can also mean “rouge” or “lipstick,” both when standing alone and in compounds:
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Crimson Tide: Part 1

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Today brings us the September installment of Alberto’s beautiful haiku calendar!

september.jpg

Explanation of the Haiku …

I’m curious about the last kanji in the haiku, , particularly in the following word. How would you interpret this?
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