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An Etymological Dictionary of Chinese Characters
Interpretations by Lawrence J. Howell and Hikaru Morimoto |
| Covering 6,500 Chinese characters as used in Japan |
Word Family of Terms Originally Pronounced KUNG
Semantic Values of the Sound KUNG:
Frame + Circle/Mass + Extension
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Terms in this word family suggest that with respect to an extensive object there is an element of circularity and/or of massing.
We find arms extending and supporting a voluminous object (共), a swollen river (洪), a connecting pipe/tube (工), an empty building containing voluminous goods (容), an entrance through which multitudes pour (公), a hole filled by a fallen person (凶), the broad chest (胸), the birth canal (孔), the descent from a hill (降), and the capturing of prey (獲).
Among the non-Everyday Use Characters, we find the following examples:
A pair of hands supporting a voluminous object (廾, 扛)
A densely populated street/quarter (巷)
A piece of wood fitted into a cavity and employed as a lever (槓)
A tall, cylindrical pillar/post (栱)
A tree/plank stretched over a body of water as a bridge (杠)
Stepping stones strewn over a body of water as a crossing (矼)
A crowd of people (頌)
A residence enclosed by a wall/moat etc. (廱)
An ogre resembling a hunchbacked human (兇)
A fruit/flower containing numerous seeds (蓉)
A flowering stalk (蓊)
A long pod (豇)
An insect with prominent, bending legs (蛬)
An insect that produces a hollow exoskeleton (蛩)
Molten metal poured into a mold/tube (鎔/熔, 汞)
A large, tubular jug/cistern (缸, 甕, 瓮)
A large head (顒)
An equestrian bit (鞚)
The anus (as the lower end of the digestive tract) (肛)
Folding the arms over the chest (拱)
Other body cavities (腔)
Turbid water in a cavity (洶)
Water collecting in a cavity then dispersing (滃)
Fluid-filled carbuncles (癰)
Cavities formed by footsteps (跫)
Extensions of meaning or abstract applications of the senses noted above are found in the remaining characters in this group.
共 (6) キョウ；とも S/B 
S/B shows a pair of bending arms supporting a voluminous object (compare 具) → serve; offer → together; with; share → plural/humble suffix.
供 (8) キョウ；そな（える）；とも
共 (Type 1 Phonetic) serve; offer + 人 person → serve; offer → attendant; retinue; plural/humble suffix. 供 was devised to replace 共 after the latter developed its extended meanings.
洪 (9) コウ
As per 共 (Type 1 Phonetic) (bending arms supporting a voluminous object) + 水 water → swollen, muddy river → flood → great; big.
恭 (10) キョウ；うやうや（しい）
共 (Type 1 Phonetic) serve; offer + 心 heart/emotions → deferential; reverential; respectful (← ceremonious emotions experienced when offering an object to one's superior).
港 (12) コウ；みなと Formerly 
巷 (Type 1 Phonetic) (densely populated quarter) + 水 water → port settlement → harbor.
工 (3) コウ；ク
Ideograph suggesting the construction of a vertically standing pipe/tube (such as would pierce and connect pieces of wood etc.) → work; construct → artisan; specialist; skillful.
功 (5) コウ
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 力 power/energy → use effort, implements and inventiveness in completing a job → achievement; merit; fruits; good deed.
江 (6) コウ；え
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 水 water → (wide) river connecting two or more settlements (compare 港) → inlet; bay.
攻 (7) コウ；せ（め・める）
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 攵 action indicator → attack/assault with a pipe → (the) offensive.
空 (8) クウ；あ（く・ける）；から；そら
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 穴 hole → empty space inside a connecting pipe/tube → vacant → sky; the air; (open/empty) space → absent-minded; pretend (← no substance).
控 (11) コウ；ひか（え・える）
As per 空 (Type 1 Phonetic) (empty space between two ends of a connecting pipe/tube) + 手 hand/action indicator → create space between two objects or people → hold back; draw in → refrain; wait; await; keep from (← hold back) → be near at hand. Copy/write down, note, memo and a duplicate are borrowed meanings.
紅 (9) コウ；ク；グ；くれない；べに
糸 thread + 工 (Type 8 Phonetic) here an abbreviated form of 虹 rainbow (→ vivid color) → fabric/textiles dyed a deep red (compare 染)→ crimson; rouge → lipstick.
貢 (10) コウ；みつ（ぐ）
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 貝 commodities → goods offered by the bottom of society to the top → tribute; donate; contribute; support financially.
項 (12) コウ
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 頁 head → nape of the neck (connecting head and body) → clause; item (← figurative associations, from the idea of connecting points).
恐 (10) キョウ；おそ（らく・れ・れる・ろしい） SIS of 巩 
SIS of 巩 shows a kneeling person + 手 hand/action indicator (compare 芸) + 工 (connecting pipe/tube) → kneel and connect two objects with a pipe/tube. 恐 is 巩 (Type 1 Phonetic) + 心 heart/emotions → empty/uneasy feeling in one's heart (compare 匈), as though a hole has been punched in it → fear → threaten; fearsome; awe; dread → apprehension; concern → terrible; horrible; fierce; tremendous (← aspects of a threatening or fearsome object). Probably and possibly are via the uncertainty of the state of mind that fears something desired may not in fact materialize.
容 (10) ヨウ
As per 谷 (Type 2 Phonetic) (depression) + 宀 roof/building → empty building into which voluminous goods are placed → put in; contents; volume → contain; accept → appearance (← shape of objects in a container).
溶 (13) ヨウ；と（かす・く・ける）
As per 容 (Type 1 Phonetic) (place voluminous objects inside) + 水 water → dissolve/melt voluminous objects in liquid → liquefy; thaw; mix
公 (4) コウ；おおやけ S/B 
Originally, 八 divide right and left + 口 (Type 2 Phonetic) mouth/hole → create an entrance and throw open to the multitudes → public → fair; official; governmental.
松 (8) ショウ；まつ Alternate Form 枩
公 (Type 1 Phonetic) open/public + 木 tree/wood → pine tree (species with "open" fronds).
翁 (10) オウ Formerly 
公 (Type 1 Phonetic) open/public + 羽 feather/wing → open spaces between the feathers of an aged bird →old man/elder.
訟 (11) ショウ
公 (Type 1 Phonetic) open/public + 言 words → speak openly/honestly → accuse; sue; suit. Compare 獄.
凶 (4) キョウ
凵 (Type 5 Phonetic) hole + an object fallen in → fall into a tight hole and struggle to get out (compare 禍, 陥, and 俗) → terrible; bad; disaster → poor harvest.
胸 (10) キョウ；むな；むね
匈 (Type 1 Phonetic) the breast + 肉 flesh → breast; chest → (one's) mind.
孔 (4) コウ SIS 
SIS shows 子 child (here suggesting "small") + a mark indicating "pierce, then bend" → birth canal → hole. Confucius is a borrowing.
降 (10) コウ；お（りる・ろす）；ふ（る） Formerly  S/B of 夅 
S/B of 夅 is a pictograph of feet pointing downward. 降 is 夅 (Type 1 Phonetic) + 阜 piled earth → descend a high hill → fall; get off/out; lower; unload; transfer. Other extended meanings from "fall" include defeat; retire; give up; to rain; to snow; and abort (a fetus).
講 (17) コウ
As per 冓 (Type 2 Phonetic) (symmetrical construction) + 言 words → two parties, the speaking and listening sides, coming to an understanding following protracted discourse (compare 議, 啓 and 計) → lecture.
獲 (16) カク；え（る）
Abbreviated form of 矍 (Type 8 Phonetic) (take a bird in hand) + 犬 dog/beast → catch prey → gain; obtain.
廾 (3) キョウ
SIS is a pictograph of a pairof hands → hold up/out with both hands → offer; present.
哄 (9) コウ
As per 共 (Type 1 Phonetic) (bending arms supporting a voluminous object → group activity) + 口 mouth → roar of a crowd → resound; reverberate.
巷 (9) コウ；ちまた SIS 
SIS is as per 共 (Type 1 Phonetic) (bending arms supporting a voluminous object → voluminous) + 邑 village/settlement → densely populated street/quarter → the world; the public. In the form considered standard, the 己 element at the bottom is written like 巳.
匈 (6) キョウ
凶 (Type 1 Phonetic) hole/cavity + 勹 wrap, here a shape indicator suggesting the chest → empty/uneasy feeling in one's breast (compare 恐). Nomadic race (of the north in ancient China) is a borrowed meaning.
兇 (6) キョウ；おそ（れる）
凶 (Type 1 Phonetic) terrible + 儿 human figure → terrible/cruel ogre resembling a hunchbacked human (compare 佝) → fearsome → fear.
蓉 (13) ヨウ
As per 容 (Type 1 Phonetic) (place voluminous objects inside) + 艸 grass/plant → fruit/flower containing numerous seeds. The compound 芙蓉 refers to a lotus plant.
鎔 (18) ヨウ；いがた；と（かす・ける） Alternate Form 熔
As per 容 (Type 1 Phonetic) (place voluminous objects inside) + 金 metal → melt metal and pour into a mold → smelt; fuse. The alternate form 熔 substitutes 火 fire for 金.
虹 (9) コウ；にじ
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 虫 insect/creature (here, in its original sense of "snake," suggesting a dragon) → rainbow (← natural phenomeon whereby two distant areas are linked by a lengthy, curving object). Anciently, a rainbow was regarded as one type of dragon.
汞 (7) コウ；みずがね
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 水 water → mercury (contained in a tube, and used medicinally in ancient China).
肛 (7) コウ
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 肉 flesh → the anus (lower end of the digestive tract).
訌 (10) コウ
工 (Type 8 Phonetic) here an abbreviated form of 攻 attack + 言 words → prolonged argument → confusion; strife.
腔 (12) コウ；クウ
As per 空 (Type 1 Phonetic) (empty space between two ends of a connecting pipe/tube) + 肉 flesh → body cavities, including the chest cavity.
鴻 (17) コウ；おおとり
江 (Type 1 Phonetic) inlet/bay + 鳥 bird → large waterfowl found at a particular inlet/bay → vast (← great wingspan of a large waterfowl).
蚣 (10) ク；コウ；シュ；ショウ
公 (Type 8 Phonetic) here an abbreviated form of 翁 old man/elder + 虫 insect → old insect. The compound 蜈蚣 refers specifically to a centipede.
頌 (13) ショウ；ジュ
公 (Type 1 Phonetic) open/public + 頁 head (→ people; compare 囂) → declaim to a public crowd → recite; acclaim; praise.
鶲 (21) オウ；ひたき
As per 翁 (Type 1 Phonetic) (open spaces between the feathers of an aged bird → aged) + 鳥 bird → an aged bird. 鶲 was devised to replace 翁 after the latter's transformation of meaning. In Japanese, 鶲 indicates a flycatcher.
跫 (13) キョウ
巩 (Type 1 Phonetic) as described in 恐 (pierce a hole) + 足 leg/foot → footsteps (that create depressions in the ground). Later, the term came to be used with specific reference to the sound of footsteps.
扛 (6) コウ；あ（げる）
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 手 hand/action indicator → run a pole through an object, raise it, then carry on the shoulders.
杠 (7) コウ
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 木 tree/wood → tree/plank stretched over a river as a bridge. Also, flagpole (stretching into the sky).
矼 (8) コウ
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 石 stone → stepping stones (stretching from one bank of a river to the other) → hard (← hard stones) → earnest.
缸 (9) コウ
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 缶 bulging earthenware jug/vase → large, tube-shaped jug/cistern. Compare 瓮 and 甕.
洶 (9) キョウ
匈 (Type 1 Phonetic) the breast (→ cavity) + 水 water → insert air and cause water to surge/become turbulent.
甕 (18) オウ；かめ；みか
雍 (Type 4 Phonetic) gently wrapped/enveloped + 瓦 tile → large, tube-shaped jug/cistern (compare 缸 and 瓮).
癰 (23) ヨウ
雝 (Type 4 Phonetic) as described in 擁 (birds surrounded by wetlands → surround) + 疒 illness → carbuncle; boil.
廱 (21) ヨウ
雝 (Type 4 Phonetic) as described in 擁 (birds surrounded by wetlands → surround) + 广 building → house enclosed by a wall, moat or other obstacle → wrap gently → gentle.
拱 (9) キョウ；こまぬ（く）；こまね（く）
As per 共 (Type 1 Phonetic) (bending arms) + 手 hand/action indicator → fold the arms on the chest → observe but take no action.
蛬 (12) キョウ；きりぎりす
As per 共 (Type 1 Phonetic) (bending arms) + 虫 insect → grasshopper; cricket (← insect with prominent, bending limbs). Compare 蛩.
閧 (14) コウ；とき
As per 共 (Type 1 Phonetic) (bending arms supporting a voluminous object) + 門 gate. 閧 is in effect a simplified form of 鬨, accounting for the meanings raise a cry and fight and war cry. Road running through a village, meanwhile, is a borrowed meaning via 巷.
蛩 (12) キョウ；こおろぎ
巩 (Type 1 Phonetic) as described in 恐 (pierce a hole) + 虫 insect → cricket; grasshopper (← insect that produces a hollow exoskeleton after moulting) → exoskelton of a moulted cicada. For cricket and grasshopper, compare 蛬.
鞏 (15) キョウ；かた（い）
巩 (Type 1 Phonetic) as described in 恐 (pierce a hole) + 革 leather → create a hole in a piece of leather, run string/cord through the hole and bind the leather tightly → bind tightly → tight; hard; firm.
倥 (10) コウ
As per 空 (Type 1 Phonetic) (empty space between two ends of a connecting pipe/tube) + 人 person → ignorant; foolish (← empty-headed person). Also, be pressing/urgent (← urgency that causes one's mind to go blank).
槓 (14) コウ；てこ
As per 貢 (Type 1 Phonetic) (goods offered by the bottom of society to the top → push upward) + 木 tree/wood → extend a piece of wood into a crevice and use as a lever. Compare 梃.
瓮 (9) オウ；もたい
公 (Type 1 Phonetic) open/public + 瓦 tile → large, wide-mouthed jug/cistern (compare 缸 and 甕).
蓊 (13) オウ
As per 翁 (Type 1 Phonetic) (open spaces between the feathers of an aged bird) + 艸 grass/plant → flower(ing) stalk; thick/luxuriant vegetation.
絳 (12) コウ；あか；あか（い）
As per 夅 (Type 1 Phonetic) as described in 降 (point downward/descend) + 糸 thread → crimson; deep red (← colors produced by lowering fabric into dye; compare 紅).
滃 (13) オウ
As per 翁 (Type 1 Phonetic) (open spaces between the feathers of an aged bird → open spaces) + 水 water → water swelling in a given space then dispersing over open spaces.
栱 (10) キョウ
As per 共 (Type 1 Phonetic) (bending arms supporting a voluminous object) + 木 tree/wood → wooden pillar or post supporting a heavy object → large stake.
龔 (22) キョウ
As per 共 (Type 1 Phonetic) (bending arms supporting a voluminous object → offer) + 龍 dragon (here suggesting a rare and precious object) → give/present another a valuable object → reverential (← present reverentially).
顒 (18) ギョウ
As per 禺 (Type 1 Phonetic) (monkey with a curving tail) + 頁 head → variety of large-headed monkey → large-headed. Also, peaceful (← docile variety of monkey).
豇 (10) コウ；ささげ
As per 工 (Type 1 Phonetic) (connecting pipe/tube) + 豆 bean → long pod of the black-eyed pea.
鞚 (17) コウ；クウ
As per 空 (Type 1 Phonetic) (empty space between two ends of a connecting pipe/tube) + 革 leather → (of a horse or beast of burden) a bit, which via a rope connects the animal to the human pulling it.
鵼 (19) クウ；コウ；ぬえ
空 (Type 1 Phonetic) sky + 鳥 bird → an imaginary bird, of attributes obscure. ぬえ can refer to either White's thrush or to an imaginary creature with the head of a monkey, body of a racoon dog, legs of a tiger and a snake for its tail; compare 鵺.
恟 (9) キョウ；おそ（れる）
As per 匈 (Type 1 Phonetic) (empty/uneasy feeling in the breast) + 心 heart/emotions → fear. 恟 was devised to replace 匈 after the latter assumed its borrowed meaning.
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Etymological Keypoints
This column of keypoints appears on each page of this online etymological dictionary of kanji, Chinese characters as used in Japan. For detailed information on any of the following topics, click the MORE hyperlinks to reach the appropriate sections of the Reference Page.
Types of Characters
Chinese characters are of three types: pictographs, ideographs and compound characters.
Pictographs
Pictographs are representations of concrete objects: moon, sun, river, mountain, bird, sword, mouth, hand and so on. Pictographs also account for nearly all of the radicals (or classifiers) as described below in the Compound Characters section. There are several hundred pictographs in all. MORE
Ideographs
The handful of ideographs among the Chinese characters convey abstract notions such as unity, concealment, extension etc. MORE
Compound Characters
Compound Characters are composed of two elements. The first element is a "radical" (or "classifier"). Character dictionaries assign nearly all characters to one of approximately 70 of these radicals.
The second element is a sound note, suggesting both the pronunciation and the meaning of the character. In a small number of compound characters the sound conveyed by the second element is anomalous, for which reason compound characters have traditionally been divided into phonetic compounds and semantic compounds.
MORE on Phonetic Compounds
MORE on Semantic Compounds
Phonetic elements (or sound notes) most often match that of the compound character precisely, such as 夬 KUAT and 決 KUAT. In other instances the initial or final consonants are altered: 甚 TAM and 勘 KAM; 胥 SAG and 婿 SAR. In a smaller number of cases the vowel is transposed: 而 NAG and 需 NUG. We also find phonetic elements functioning in other ways such as to convey onomatopoeic or mimetic sounds, to transliterate loan words and so on. There are eight types of sound notes in all. MORE
Word Formation In Proto-Chinese
This dictionary arranges Chinese characters according to word families of phonologically and semantically related terms. Building upon research undertaken by Bernhard Karlgren and Akiyasu Todo, the earliest sounds of the terms in proto-Chinese are reconstructed along the pattern Consonant-Vowel-Consonant. MORE
Initial consonants are K, L, M, N, P, S and T. The vowel in most terms is something between short A and E, here rendered as A. The vowel may also be O or U, and a number of word families feature the medial glide UA. Final consonants are G/K, NG, M, N, P, R and T.
Semantic Function of Consonants
Each initial consonant suggests a broad semantic background for characters beginning with that consonant. Here are the semantic indicators for each initial consonant, followed by a partial selection of the kinds of terms found in each initial consonant network.
Initial K- = Frame: boxes and containers; foundations of buildings; cavities; enclosed passageways; shackles/handcuffs; square tools; crossroads; humans, gates and other objects framing each other by standing in opposition; nuts in shells, grain in husks, beans/peas in a pod, shellfish in shells and other objects in containers; yokes; molds; footwear and garments that contain the body in full or part
Initial L- = Continuum: footpaths; literal and figurative belts; strips of material; stripes; dripping, flowing or trickling water/liquid; linked waves; patterned grain of wood; chains/cables; lengths of rope; interwoven vegetation; furrows; stretching vines
Initial M- = Conceal: the sun concealed (by darkness, cloud cover, vegetation); threads, insects, and heads of grain that are fine/tiny to the point of near-invisibility; persons concealed by passing away; fish nets or traps concealed beneath the surface of the water; physical/figurative blindness; concealing grass/vegetation; concealing curtains or pieces of cloth
Initial N- = Flexible: supple female bodies; supple body parts (ears, earlobes, droopy beard); vegetation/food softened/made supple by being heated; cloth/fabric softened in liquid; bodies wasted/softened by illness; swordblades and other flexible weapons; clinginess; seals created from softened clay; pliable hides; vines and other flexible objects that coil/twist about; gently bending arms and vegetation
Initial P- = Spread: goods spread for display/sale; food spread for a feast/meal; spreading leaves/vegetation; liquid/fragrance that spreads to right and left, or in all directions; liquid overflowing its container; hands spread to slap/strike, or to grip a handle; spreading wounds; spreading tiles; lightning spreading through the sky; waterplants spreading over the surface of water; sails and other types of spreading cloth; seeds spread through fields; pelts/fabric wrapped about the body; wings wrapped around a bird's body; sea creatures enveloped in shells; objects such as fabric or soft boards that spread in being folded back upon themselves
Initial S- = Small/Thin/Slender: piles of vegetation, plant matter, grain, food etc; piled rocks; piled earth; pile of wood shavings; objects that are cut/aligned irregularly; long or tall, slender objects such as masts, reeds, wells or fences; hairpins, phalluses, trails of liquid and other slender objects that penetrate tight spaces; fragments of metal, wood or bone; moss, coral, baby teeth and other small, tightly adhering objects; arrangements of small/fine objects such as thorns on a plant, birds in trees or sand on a beach; sheaves, wheel spokes converging in hubs, arrows compacted in a quiver and other tightly compressed objects
Initial T- = Straight: literal piles of objects such as firewood, meat, valuables or metal; figurative piles; lizards, snakes, wriggling insects and other straight creatures; the shuttle of a loom, a horizontal bar on a vehicle and other machines/machine parts that move in a straight line; straight movement in both vertical and horizontal directions; pipes, tubes, caverns and other straight, tubular objects; flames, gas, the sun and other rising objects
(Initial S terms represent a branch of the initial T group, emphasizing small/thin/slender applications of the idea of straightness.) MORE
Among the final consonants, the G/K ending suggests that the meaning of the character is directly connected with the main idea expressed by the initial consonant (see above). KAG/LAG/MAG/NAG/PAG/SAG/TAG and their final K variants KAK/LAK/MAK/NAK/PAK/SAK/TAK may be considered linguistic templates which the other finals modify to create more specific meanings for the relevant terms. Each of the remaining final consonants suggests a specific semantic nuance for the characters ending with that consonant. Here are the semantic indicators for each final consonant, followed by a partial selection of the kinds of terms found in each final consonant group.
Final -NG = Extend: bodies that stretch and/or go stiff; persons or objects standing in distant opposition; sound/fragrance drifting from one point to another, linking the two points in distant opposition; actions or processes that continue a long time, such as savoring food in the mouth, protracted spasms, lengthy songs or dramatic performances; endlessly flowing water; vegetation spreading out of sight; long strings of shells/jewels; writing/ornamentation spread at length over a surface; tall piles or long trails of objects; steam, vapor or gas that rises high in the air
Final -M = Encompass: people fallen into holes; food or other objects contained in the mouth; fruit encompassed by skin; grain encompassed by husks; objects covered by thick vegetation or by darkness; drenched objects; a fetus encompassed in a womb; needles, hairpins and other slender objects concealed in filling narrow spaces; cavities and containers filled with liquid
Final -N = Adhere/Be proximate: weapons contacting an enemy's body; contact of body parts with other objects; hunting/fishing implements contacting their targets; tightly knit groups of people, birds, fish and other creatures; tight rows of like objects; cloth tightly wrapped about (parts of) the body; roofs fit upon buildings; paired objects in close proximity; points of contact between land and water; proximate pieces of finely cut/chopped objects such as vegetation and food; objects lying flat on the ground
Final -P = Press: be pressed upon by attackers; objects sandwiched between others; objects exerting pressure downward, or directly upon the ground; tight compaction of like objects such as threads, insects or vegetation; human bodies pressing upon bedding or upon other human bodies
Final -R = Continuum: elongated objects such as garments or weapons; prolonged activity such as speech, prayer, singing, rituals, irrigation, erosion, carving, scraping, polishing or sharpening of knives; prolonged sensations such as reverberations, irritation or illness; continuous states or relationships such as human friendship, reverence of ancestors or the lasting effect of glue-like substances; neat lines of people or of objects such as eaves, fruit or footprints; abstract elongation such as in the slow passage of time
Final -T = Cut/Divide/Reduce: reduction in size by cutting of vegetation, carving of wood, or biting/chewing of food; division of objects such as in the splitting of logs or the ripping of cloth; reduction of empty space in objects such as rooms and containers, or in the covering of open space by vegetation or water; reduction in length such as in knotting a rope; reduction of darkness by the application of light; reduction of physical capacities on account of fatigue, illness, blindness or numbness; reduction of physical capacities of animals by trapping, tethering or penning them; reduction of emotional capacities on account of anger, distress or excitement MORE
Semantic Function of the O and U Vowels
The vowel O suggests the idea of curvature, sometimes extending to "curve and surround/envelop."The U vowel, when it is the lone vowel in a term (examples: KUG, LUG, SUG, TUNG) refers to a circle (whether full or nearly full) or to a bulky/lumpy mass. However, when the U vowel is employed as part of the diphthong UA (examples: KUAN/KUAR/KUAT, SUAN/SUAR/SUAT), the signification is most often the O vowel sense of curving/round.
Here are the semantic indicators for these vowels, followed by a partial selection of representative terms.
Vowel O = Curvature: backs bent with illness or age; tree branches or the necks of humans/animals bent with weight; contorted bodies; trees bent with decay; arched bridges; curved stretches of land or other natural phenomena such as caverns; winding constructions such as palaces and official buildings; birds or the sun curving into sight over the horizon; coiling vegetation, snakes or threads; curved movement such as in kneading or bending objects into shape, sweeping with a broom, or rowing a boat; bulging objects such as water jugs, gourds, pimples or pregnant bellies; curved objects such as eggs, nuts or colanders; objects with curved portions such as a swordblade, the hull of a boat, or a flag attached to a pole and flapping in the breeze; arcs formed by liquid poured from a container, or by humans/animals moving in a semi-circle
Vowel U = Circle/Mass: round objects such as baskets, huts or circular buildings; lumpy objects such as heads, hunched bodies, breasts; skin protuberances or tree stumps; massive objects such as pillars, ridgepoles, downed boars or heavy bells; crowds of people or swarms of insects/creatures; curved objects such as earthenware, roofs or animal horns; round cavities filled with fluid or occupied by bodies; circuitous trails, winding hills and other curved landscape features; masses of hair such as in topknots or shaggy dog fur; masses of grain/vegetation; heaps of food; tightly-massed inanimate objects such as ships in a harbor, spokes in a hub or precious stones in an accessory; objects compacted by hand or tightly grasped in the fist
Vowel UA = Curving/Round: melons; wings; hoops; baskets; round and tubular containers; pools of water; objects enclosed in the hands; crowns; arcs or halos of light; circular piles of vegetation; round fruit; barrels; revolving objects and other forms of rotating/circular movement; rounded mountain tops or hill peaks; round bundles of goods or of vegetation; curling of the fingertips or cupping of the hands; strips of cloth wrapped about and covering the eyes; bound objects such as scrolls and tablets; round fish eggs; blossoming buds; cylindrical tubes, skewers or blocks; puckering of the lips; persons or objects arranged in a circle; squatting figures; winding waterways or passages; round holes and tools for drilling round holes MORE
Sample Terms
Semantically related terms are by no means restricted to a single consonant network. Five kanji concerned with the humble pea or bean and their seed vessels (the pod) suggest why and how this is.
The KAP word family (Frame + Press) contains the character 莢, meaning "pod." Here, the twin sides of the seed vessel are visualized as framing elements that press against the peas or beans contained within.
In the KUAN word family (Frame + [Curving/Round] + Adhere/Be Proximate) we find 豌 ("pea"), referring to the round legumes contained in and adhering to the framing element, the pod.
The NAM word family (Flexible + Encompass/Conceal) has 荏 "beans," that is, beans covered and hidden by a flexible pod.
荅 "bean pod" belongs to the TAP word family (Straight + Press). Here, the emphasis is on the pod as a straight object the sides of which exert pressure upon the contents.
Finally, 荳 "bean" is a member of the TUG word family (Straight + Circle/Mass + Straight). In this case, the emphasis is on the round or lumpy shape of the bean contained in the straight object, the pod. MORE
Using the Dictionary
Hyperlinks to individual word families are located at the left side of this page. To look up individual characters, use the search box at top right or one of the four indices at the located at the top center of the page.
For ease of reference, characters presented within an etymology are hyperlinked to their full etymological explanation.
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