1. Meaning: dog 2. Readings: Kunyomi (訓読み): いぬ Onyomi (音読み): ケン Japanese names: does not appear in Japanese names Chinese reading: guǎn 3. Etymology 犬 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 dog. According to 說文解字 (shūo wén jiě zì, i.e. “Explaining Simple Characters and Analyzing Compound Characters”), by a philologist 許慎 (Xǔ Shèn, ca. 58 C.E. – ca. 147 C.E.), the character 犬 … [Read more...]
Archives for November 2011
Kanji: 見
1. Meaning: chance, hope, idea, look at, opinion, see, visible 2. Readings: Kunyomi (訓読み): み.える、 み.せる、 み.る Onyomi (音読み): ケン Japanese names: does not appear in Japanese names Chinese reading: jiàn 3. Etymology 見 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 human with an exaggerated eye, indicating a person watching something from afar, while kneeling (see Figures 1 and 2). The kinbun … [Read more...]
平仮名 (ひらがな, hiragana): ね (i.e. “ne”)
The modern form of ね comes from the cursive form of the kanji 奴 (やっこ, yakko, i.e. “servant (especially samurai’s attendant)”). 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 奴. 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 奴. Calligraphy by 品天龍涙 (ぽんてりゅうるい, Ponte Ryūrui), ink on paper. Figure … [Read more...]