1. Meaning: month, moon 2. Readings: Kunyomi (訓読み): つき Onyomi (音読み): ガツ、 ゲツ Japanese names: おと、 がっ、 す、 ずき、 もり Chinese reading: yuè 3. Etymology 月 belongs to the 象形文字 (しょうけいもじ, shōkeimoji, i.e. set of characters of pictographic origin). It is a pictograph of a crescent moon. According to 說文解字 (shūo wén jiě zì, i.e. “Explaining Simple (Characters) and Analyzing Compound Characters”), by the philologist 許慎 (Xǔ Shèn, ca. 58 C.E. – ca. 147 C.E.), the sound of … [Read more...]
Archives for October 2011
平仮名 (ひらがな, hiragana): な (i.e. “na”)
The modern form of な comes from the cursive form of the kanji 奈 (な, na, i.e. “Nara”, “what”). Follow the progression of the different scripts shown in Figures 1 to 3 to understand its origin. Figure 1. Standard script (楷書, かいしょ, kaisho) of the kanji 奈. Calligraphy by 品天龍涙 (ぽんてりゅうるい, Ponte Ryūrui), ink on paper. Figure 2. Semi-cursive script (行書, ぎょうしょ, gyōsho) of the kanji 奈. Calligraphy by 品天龍涙 (ぽんてりゅうるい, Ponte Ryūrui), ink on paper. Figure 3. Cursive script (草書, そうしょ, … [Read more...]
平仮名 (ひらがな, hiragana): と (i.e. “to”)
The modern form of と comes from the cursive form of the kanji 止 (し, shi, i.e. “stop”, “halt”). Follow the progression of the different scripts shown in Figures 1 to 3 to understand its origin. Figure 1. Standard script (楷書, かいしょ, kaisho) of the kanji 止. Calligraphy by 品天龍涙 (ぽんてりゅうるい, Ponte Ryūrui), ink on paper. Figure 2. Semi-cursive script (行書, ぎょうしょ, gyōsho) of the kanji 止. Calligraphy by 品天龍涙 (ぽんてりゅうるい, Ponte Ryūrui), ink on paper. Figure 3. Cursive script (草書, そうしょ, … [Read more...]
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