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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 |
Reference Terms
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S/B: Shell and Bone Characters
The earliest forms of the characters are those carved into shells and bones (chia ku wen: 甲骨文; in Japan, more commonly known as 甲骨文字) and those (jin wen: 金文) inscribed into tripod kettles, tools, weapons, musical instruments and other objects made of bronze.
The shells and bones were used in divination rites during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1066 B.C.E.). Heat was applied to induce cracks in the shells and bones, and fortunes were cast based on the patterns of the cracks. Afterwards, details concerning the provenance of the shells and bones, the diviner, the question posed for divination and the interpretation made were inscribed with bronze knives or the edges of hard jewels, creating characters thin and angular in form.
It is worth noting that fully 5,000 distinct characters, some of a high degree of morphological development, have been identified among the shell and bone characters. This suggests that the characters will ultimately be found to date much further back than can be confirmed at present.
BIS: Bronzeware Inscription Style
The bronzeware characters, which record legal affairs, proclamations, or the performance of sacred rituals, commemorate achievements and so on, these feature bolder lines and are more highly ornamented than the shell and bone characters.
The forms of the characters remained fairly static during the first centuries of the Zhou Dynasty (1066-256 B.C.), but by the time of the Warring States period (475-221 B.C.), the collapse of central authority had created a profusion of variant styles.
SIS: Seal Inscription Style
Shi huang di (始皇帝), founder of the Qin Dynasty (which can be dated from either 246 or 221 B.C. - 206 B.C.), made a priority of rationalizing the writing system. He favored hsiao chuan (小篆), a curvy style used in carving seals.
SCR: Scribal Form
During the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E - C.E. 225, excepting an interregnum from C.E. 8 - C.E. 25), a more angular style with clean, straight lines came to be preferred by scribes who spent their lives writing documents. Known as k' ai shu (楷書), this is the style that serves as the model for the printed characters used today.
ARC: Archaic Style
A general term for a variety of pre-Scribal Form styles.
Types of Characters
The Shuowen Jiezi (説文解字), a famous character dictionary compiled 100 C.E. by Xu Shen (許慎), identifies six types of characters. However, two of these six types have to do with the usage rather than compositional structure. The types with which we concern ourselves are pictographs (Chinese: 象形字; Japanese 象形文字), ideographs (Chinese: 指事字; Japanese: 指示文字) and compound characters, the last group of which are traditionally considered to be of two varieties: semantic compounds (Chinese: 會意字; Japanese: 会意文字) and phonetic compounds (Chinese: 形聲字; Japanese: 形声文字).
Of the tens of thousands of characters, pictographs number in the mere hundreds, but as elements in compounds they are of the greatest importance. Examples of frequently used pictographs include 刀 sword, 口 mouth, 女 woman, 山 mountain, 心 heart, 手 hand, 日 sun/day, 月 moon, 木 tree, 水 water, 火 fire, 田 field, 目 eye, 石 stone, 竹 bamboo, 虫 insect/creature, 足 leg, 車 vehicle, 門 gate, 雨 rain/natural phenomena, 馬 horse, 魚 fish, and 鳥 bird.
Ideographs are representations of abstract concepts rather than pictographs of objects. They are few in number, but include key characters as下 under/below and 上 over/above, as well as 一 one, 二 two, 三 three, 五 five, 七 seven, 八 eight, and 十 ten.
Compound characters are composed of two (rarely more) elements. The first element is a "radical" (or "classifier"). The second element normally suggests both the pronunciation and the meaning of the character, resulting in a phonetic compound. (See the phonetic elements section below.)
In semantic compounds the sound conveyed by the second element noted in the preceding paragraph is anomalous. Examples include 休, 知, 屋, 列, 便, 連, and 看. Semantic compounds are greatly outnumbered by phonetic compounds, particularly among characters beyond the most frequently used 2,000 or so. (The opposite is true with respect to characters devised in Japan, though, where semantic compounds are the rule and phonetic compounds the exceptions.)
Close inspection reveals that the semantic compound group as traditionally understood contains many characters which are better understood as phonetic compound characters. There are four main reasons for this.
1) Relative infrequency in usage of the sound note element.
When particular sound note elements appear over and over they are easily recognized as indicating a phonetic compound, but when of rare occurence there has been a tendency to designate the character in which they appear as a semantic compound. Examples include 屵 in 炭, 咸 in 感, 勿 in 物, the right-hand element in 流, the right-hand element in 隊, the right-hand element in 酸, the right-hand element in 脳, the left-hand element in 段 and the top element in 専. Similar confusion regarding the sound note is also evident in 魁, 毘, 竺 and other characters.
2) Relative infrequency of a "radical" functioning as a sound note.
The 540 radicals proposed by Xu Shen (許慎) in his Shuowen Jiezi (説文解字; 100 C.E.) were reduced by 17th and 18th century Chinese lexicographers to 214. It happens that the sound note for a small number of compound characters is provided by one of these 214 elements, but partly because such characters are few in number and partly because insufficient attention has been paid to the sounds of the characters, the tendency has been for dictionaries to classify these characters as semantic rather than phonetic compounds. Examples include 律, 廷, 牧, 役, 寒, 見, 正 and 委, in which the sound notes are respectively 聿 廴 攵 彳 宀 儿 止 and 禾.
3) Misapprehension caused by slight changes in pronunciation.
The sound note of 念 (ON reading of NEN) is 今 (ON reading of KIN/KON). The NEN and KIN/KON pair of sounds are rather distinct, but the differences mask the fact that, etymologically speaking, both 今 and 念 belong to the KAM word family.
4) Loss of a sound note due to orthographic change.
Among the phonetic compounds simplified in Japan's mid-20th century orthographic reforms were some that lost their traditional sound note. 國 became 国 (losing the sound note 或), 圖 turned into 図 (losing 啚), 數 lost 婁 in becoming 数 and so on. The new forms were then regarded as semantic compounds. Closely related are characters such as 岩 and 翌, officially adopted colloquial forms of more complicated characters which lost their sound notes in being simplified.
Another point about "semantic compounds" is that the category includes characters that started out as pictographs, including 早 夏 丸 兄 光 冬 走 麦 北 去 県 必 色. In this case, the designation "semantic compound" has more to do with classifying the character by present-day shape than it does with etymological origin.
Finally, the present forms of many compound characters, both semantic and phonetic compounds, contain elements that have been transformed out of recognition. That applies to such characters, generally designated semantic compounds, as 事; 史; 族; 旅; 負; 危; 命; 令; 官; 帯; 則 and 規. Further study may reveal the ancient pronunciation of the bamboo tube element in 事 and 史, the pennant/banner element in 族 and 旅, the crouching figures in 負 and 危 (suggestively, 負 belongs to the PUAG word family, and 危 to the KUAG), the cover element in 命 and 令, the pile of objects in 官, the object run through with string or cord in 帯, the slender knife in 則, the arrow-like implement for drawing lines in 規 and so on. It is likely that not a few of these elements will be found to have been functioning as sound notes, making the characters phonetic rather than semantic compounds.
Here are several dozen characters often denoted semantic compounds which are much better understood as phonetic compounds. Click on any or all of them to find out why.
答 買 里 捨 臨 半 分 意 育 開 所 送 息 短 追 泣 告 札 産 辞 初 料 禁 興 制 造 損 妻 武 貴 孝 骨 困 砂 就 善 難 郵
For the record, there is no authoritative compendium of semantic compounds, but reproduced here or here is the list of basic characters taught to Japanese elementary school children, with semantic compounds segregated from the
other types of characters.
Phonetic compounds account for the vast majority of Chinese characters. Here, one element in the compound is intended to convey the sound of the character. This element is called the phonetic element, or sound note. In this dictionary, the phonetic element is denoted by (Type [#] phonetic).
Phonetic compound characters are of eight types.
Type 1: The phonetic element and the character itself belong to the same word family. Example: 夬 KUAT and 決 KUAT.
Type 2: The phonetic element and the character itself differ in the final consonant. Example: 胥 SAG and 婿 SAR.
Type 3: The phonetic element and the character itself differ in the initial consonant. Example: 甚 TAM and 勘 KAM.
Type 4: The phonetic element and the character itself differ in the vowel. Examples: 曼 MUAN and 慢 MAN; 皮 PAR and 坡 PUAR; 而 NAG and 需 NUG; 宗 SUNG and 綜 SONG; 充 TONG and 銃 TUNG.
Type 5: The phonetic element differs from the character itself in two respects, yet is nevertheless properly regarded as the sound note. Examples: 卒 SUAR and 萃 TUAT; 乃 NAG and 秀 SOG; 無 MAG and 撫 PUAG; 光 KUANG and 恍 MANG.
Type 6: The phonetic element functions onomatopoeically or mimetically, and not for its customary meaning. Examples: 瓜 simulates the sound of a crying baby in 孤; 立 simulates the sound of rushing wind in 颯; 此 simulates a hissing noise in 呰 and so on.
Type 7: The phonetic element transliterates the sound of a term non-Han Chinese in origin. In this case, the phonetic element may or may not have a secondary, semantic function. Examples: 革 in 靴; 留 in 瑠; 匍 in 萄 and so on.
Type 8: The phonetic element is an abbreviated form of a more complex character. Examples: 舌 in place of 括 in 蛞; 各 in place of 洛 in 路; 刃 in place of 忍 in 靱 etc.
Consonants and Consonant Networks
The structure of ancient Chinese was extremely simple: an initial consonant (also referred to simply as an "initial") + a final, the latter composed of a nuclear vowel and a coda consonant. Sometimes included in the final was a medial glide (I or U).
The initials were K, L, M, N, P, S/TS, and T. Each consonant expressed an identifiable concept (see below). Word families of terms beginning with the same initial represent branches and sub-branches of the particular consonant network.
The S/TS consonant network is actually a sub-network of the T group, as we can determine by comparing word family pairs such as TAM/SAM, TAN/SAN, TAR/SAR and so on. A careful examination of these pairs reveals that the S/TS terms nearly always represent the same theme as the corresponding T terms, but with specific reference to objects that are small/thin/slender. Aside from the distinction of smallness, S/TS network terms often express the idea of irregularity in shape, whereas T network terms are normally concerned with regularity. In this respect, compare the TAR and SAR word families.
Here are the seven consonant networks, with their primordial concepts and (where applicable) variant initials.
| Initial |
Variant(s) |
Primordial Concept(s) |
| |
|
|
| K |
G/H |
Frame |
| L |
(None) |
Continuum |
| M |
(None) |
Concealment |
| N |
(None) |
Flexible |
| P |
B |
Spread |
| S/TS |
DZ |
Small; Thin; Slender |
| T |
D |
Straight |
Vowels
The main vowel in proto-Chinese was short A, or something between short A and short E. This sound linked the initial and final consonants, and exercised no semantic influence on terms. Terms with this vowel account for approximately 3/4 of the proto-Chinese vocabulary.
The other nuclear vowels were O and U; these functioned semantically, with significations both similar and overlapping. The O vowel suggests CURVATURE, sometimes extending to CURVE AND SURROUND/ENVELOP. The U vowel, when it is the lone vowel in a term (KUG/KUK, SUG/SUK etc.) 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 (KUAN/KUAR/KUAT, SUAN/SUAR/SUAT etc.), the signification is the O vowel sense of CURVING/ROUND. The reason for using U in the dipthong rather than O was probably a matter of economy in pronunciation: voicing the sound KOAN distinctly, for example, demands more effort from the jaw muscles than does the sound KUAN.
Finals
Complementing the seven initials are seven finals. Here they are, with their primordial concepts and (where applicable) variant forms.
| Final |
Variant |
Primordial Concept(s) |
| |
|
|
| G |
K |
Straight |
| NG |
(None) |
Extension |
| M |
(None) |
Encompass |
| N |
(None) |
Adhere/Be Proximate |
| P |
(None) |
Press |
| R |
(None) |
Continuum |
| T |
D |
Cut; Divide; Reduce |
Note that the G/K final (STRAIGHT) means "fundamentally straight," not "invariably and inflexibly straight"; the straightness is subject to modification in the form of curving, bending and so on. This tendency is particularly evident, as we would expect, in O and U vowel terms. Also, the straightness is often abstract, in the form of directness or even semantic neutrality (non-inflection). In the latter case, the function is to spotlight the semantic signification of the initial, as opposed to nuancing that signification as the other six finals do.
Consonant Clusters
As shown by the NG final, consonants were sometimes clustered. A small number of initials demonstrate clustering involving the consonant L. These are KL (as in KLAM and KLAP), HL (as in HLAG), GL (as in GLOK), and ML (as in MLAK or MLAG). In each initial cluster, the separate consonants exert their semantic influence on the terms. For example, KL terms refer both to a frame and to a continuum, ML terms to concealment and a continuum, and so on.
Word Formation Mechanism
As noted above, the initial conveyed a term's general sense. The presence or absence of a medial glide adjusted or delimited the range of the term. The final gave the term its specific, concrete meaning. Click here for examples.
Research Background
19th century linguists such as Joseph-Marie Callery (Systema Phoneticum Scripturae Sinicae: 1841) gave impetus to the scholarly reconstruction of the sounds of ancient
Chinese. In Word Families in Chinese, a landmark article that appeared in the Bulletin of the Museum of Far
East Antiquities in 1934, the Swedish Sinologist Bernhard Karlgren offered
a systematic method for denoting the relations between phonetically close
terms.
Later (in 漢字語源辞典 [1965] 東京：學燈社, and 漢和大辞典 [1978] 東京：学習研究社), University
of Tokyo professor Akiyasu Todo augmented Karlgren's work by classifying
word families in Chinese into seven distinct groups, based on the initial
consonant by which Chinese terms were originally pronounced. These seven groups correspond to the initial consonant networks described above, with the exception that Todo labeled the S group "TS."
As outlined above, the Kanji Networks materials expand on Todo's contribution in four ways.
First, by noting the existence of a distinct semantic function in each
of the seven consonant groups identified by Todo.
Second, by noting that not only the initial consonant but also the final
consonant in ancient Chinese exerted semantic influence.
Third, by noting that the vowels O and U also exerted semantic influence
on terms in ancient Chinese, suggesting curvature, roundness or massiveness.
Fourth, by delineating the eight distinct types of the sound note occuring in phonetic compound characters.
Points of Note Regarding the Characters
Previous Forms
Until the Second World War, the forms of the Chinese characters employed in the various Asian countries were quite similar. Toward the end of the 1940s, however, Japan simplified hundreds of characters, and China took an even more dramatic simplification path in the 1950s. Here, we concentrate on the previous and present forms of Japanese characters.
Examples of old and new styles include the following. Present styles precede the former.
| Present Style |
Previous Style |
|
|
| 拠 |
據 |
| 仮 |
假 |
| 価 |
價 |
| 悪 |
惡 |
| 献 |
獻 |
| 顕 |
顯 |
| 会 |
會 |
| 経 |
經 |
| 双 |
雙 |
| 写 |
寫 |
Inevitably, these simplifications have confused the etymological origins of the characters. To take just one example, the right-hand element in 經 depicts 巛 (variant of 川) river between a horizontal line at top and 工 at bottom (originally 土 earth) → subterranean watercourse. Meanwhile, the right-hand element in the present style, 経, is 手 hand/action indicator + 土 earth → make round lumps of earth. The transformation of 經 into 経 makes us suppose there must be some connection between 経 and, say, 怪, but this is hardly the case.
Another example of confusion can be seen in the characters 器, 類, and 突, all of which feature the element 大 (person standing outstretched). Attempting to etymologize these characters according to their present forms is a fool's errand, however, for the traditional forms were in every case written not with 大 but with 犬 (dog/beast).
While the present forms of the characters must of course be recognized and employed, it is the previous forms of the characters that point us in the correct etymological direction.
Alternate Forms
Japanese and English-language kanji reference sources distinguish between the following forms of characters: standard (本字), traditional (旧字), non-standard (別体字 or the more inclusive 異体字) popular, non-authorized (俗字) and abbreviated (略字) forms. (The latter two also fall under the 異体字 rubric.) This applies both to Everyday Use Characters (EUC) and all others outside the list. It should be noted that use of the term non-authorized begs serious questions concerning who is empowered to do the authorizing, as well as the basis for determining which of alternate forms get noted and which do not.
Again, with respect to the non-EUCs, forms offered as standard can vary from publisher to publisher, and may be in turn occasionally at odds with what can be produced with the JIS character codes (see next paragraph). The most notable example in this regard would be the くさかんむり element; publishers tend to go with the four-stroke ┥┝, JIS with the three-stroke  .
Part of the confusion owes to inconsistencies in the JIS (Japanese Industrial Standard) character codes. These codes, which were determined by the Japanese Standards Association, a group under the aegis of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, feature inconsistencies of the following sorts.
| Type of Distinction |
Sample Set 1 |
Sample Set 2 |
Sample Set 3 |
|
|
|
|
| Stroke Direction |
哨梢蛸鞘 ⇔ 悄逍稍 |
剪 ⇔ 揃煎箭 |
噂樽鱒 ⇔ 蹲 |
| Presence/Absence of a Stroke |
奢楮赭躇 ⇔ 堵渚屠猪猪箸賭儲藷 |
逕邏迺逬迹縺縋鎚 ⇔ 迦迄迂遼逼漣蓮槌 |
|
| Length of a Vertical Stroke |
梏 ⇔ 浩皓鵠 |
稠 ⇔ 鯛 |
|
| Shape (Stroke Count Unaffected) |
靖錆鯖 ⇔ 睛蜻 |
喩揄蝓鍮 ⇔ 愈 |
|
| Shape (Stroke Count Affected) |
憚闡 ⇔ 箪蝉騨 |
|
|
For the non-EUCs, it often happens that the JIS form available is not the one that Kanji Networks would prefer to offer as the main entry form; this is certainly the case for characters such as 箪, 蝉 and 騨. However, one cannot always be happy.
In sum, and with respect to the non-EUCs, students should bring a flexible attitude to bear on the forms, stroke counts and assigned ON/KUN readings they can expect to find when comparing numerous sources.
Borrowed Meanings
Sometimes, one or more meanings of a given character have nothing to do with its etymology. This is because the character was "borrowed" to act as the written form of another term, normally a homonym. The borrowed meaning was attached to the character, as it were, with no regard for the character's original sense. (An example of borrowing in English would be "gay," a word that entered English in the 13th century and for hundreds of years meant "happy," "merry" or "bright" before acquiring its present sense during the 20th century.)
Returning to kanji, the borrowing might take place in China, or in later in Japan. In some cases, the borrowing was prompted by graphic similarities between characters. One example from China involves the character 考, with its borrowed meanings of "think" and "consider." These meanings were taken from a separate character, 攷. 考 originally indicated simply an elderly person with a bent back (compare 老), but owing to graphic similarity with 攷 ("investigate deeply") and the fact they are homonyms (both anciently pronounced KOG), the meanings "think" and "consider" came to be attached to 考.
Expediency was often the reason behind borrowings. For instance, 御 has a minor meaning of "defend," which properly belongs to the more complex character 禦. What happened was that one or more ancient authorities decided to omit the 示 element at the bottom, thereby saving the trouble of writing five strokes. Of course, they could only afford to do this because they were confident their readers would know enough to attach the sense of "defend" to the character 御. This usage eventually gained general currency, and so the character 御 came to merge with the meaning "defend."
Borrowings in Japan include the meaning "shellfish" in 介 (on account of the resemblance between 介 and 貝) and the sense of "unable to do" in 兼 (originally, "take an object in hand").
Mirror Image Meanings
The Yin/Yang concept in Chinese philosophy posits that all things in the universe are generated by the interplay between opposed forces such as light and dark, male and female, positive and negative etc. Among the Chinese characters, this philosophy occasionally appears in the form of mirror image meanings. For example, 幸 means "good fortune" or "happiness," although the character derives from a pictograph of handcuffs. The logic is that the flip side of being handcuffed is being released from bondage, one manifestation of good fortune.
Another character displaying mirror image meanings is 寺, which originally indicated a servant standing by to carry out the orders of a superior. 寺 therefore contains the dual (and opposed) senses of "wait" and "proceed." We find the former sense at work in the compounds 待 and 持, and the latter sense operative in 時 and 詩. (How 寺 came to mean "temple" is another story in itself.)
Atavistic Meanings
Some compound characters have what may be called atavistic meanings. These meanings are drawn from a constituent element of the character in question rather than from the character itself. Examples include "control" in 管 (from 官), "hang," "droop" and "suspend" in 垂 (from a combination of 土 earth and a pendent ear of grain), and "palace" in 殿 (from the left-hand element).
Reverse-Image Graphic Forms
As shown by their ancient forms, certain pairs of characters are reverse images of each other. Among the everyday use characters in Japan, this applies to 片 and 爿, 育 and 子, 幻 and 予, 抑 and 印, 后 and 司, as well as 乏 and 正.
Replacement Characters
In the long course of Chinese history, many characters lost their original meanings and came to refer to something completely different (see the section on Borrowings). When necessary, the Chinese devised replacement characters by tacking on a radical. Often, 人 person serves this function, as in 傾, 佐, 債, 償, 偵, and 伸 (the replacements for 頃, 左, 責, 賞, 貞, and 申). Other examples include 征 for 正 (adding 彳 movement), 蓄 for 畜 (adding 艸 grass/plant), 枝 for 支 (adding 木 tree/wood), 搬 for 般 (adding 手 hand), 燃 for 然 (adding 火 fire), 裘 for 求 (adding 衣 cloth); 蜴 for 易 (adding 虫 insect/creature), and 語 for 吾 (adding 言 words).
Shape Indicators
It is common for radicals to be employed not for the meanings they normally convey but for senses suggested by their shapes. This is particularly true for 厂 (normally "cliff"): its convenient right-angle shape is pressed into service for meanings as diverse as a hanging cloth or pelt, a cover, a roof, furrows in a field, and a cooking stove. To take a few other examples from the everyday use characters, we find 艸 (grass/plant) representing horns, 火 (fire) suggesting a symmetrical object, 玉 (jewel) standing in as a musical instrument, 舟 (boat/ship) indicating the contours of footgear, and 彡 (pattern) imitating fronds.
Characters Reinterpreted in Japan
Dozens of characters have been interpreted one way in China, and a different way in Japan. For example:
錠 (In China): As per 定 (fixity) + 金 metal → solder (metallic compound that binds objects together) → ingot; (medicinal) tablet (← objects of prescribed or fixed shape).
錠 (In Japan): As per 定 (fixity) + 金 metal → metallic device that fixes something in place → lock.
谺 (In China): 牙 fang/mesh (→ cross) + 谷 valley/gorge → zigzagging gorge (i.e., with a course that repeatedly crosses back and forth over itself).
谺 (In Japan): 牙 fang/mesh (→ cross) + 谷 valley/gorge → echo (← sound that crosses a valley).
鐚 (In China): As per 惡, the previous form of 悪 (be pressed upon) + 金 metal → the skirt of a helmet (which is pressed upon the wearer's neck by the helmet).
鐚 (In Japan): 惡 bad + 金 money → bad money.
Repositioning of Elements
The same elements are sometimes employed in two characters. In duals such as 讎 and 讐, 裏 and 裡, 闊 and 濶, or 蟹 and 蠏, the respective characters are simply variants of each other. In other duals, however, such as 忙 and 忘, 含 and 吟, 棘 and 棗, 鵞 and 鵝, 枷 and 架, 紊 and 紋, 稾 and 稿, or 脅 and 脇, the separate characters bear independent meanings.
Tripling or Quadrupling of Elements
A number of characters contain the same element tripled. The tripling suggests the idea of "many." Some examples include 三, 品, 森, 晶, along with the right-hand element in 燥 or the 劦 element in 協. Also, the previous forms of a number of characters contain tripled elements: 參 (now 参), the top element of 壘 (now 塁), 聶 in 攝 (now 摂) and so on. Note that 三, 森, and 參/参 all belong to the same word family, the concept of which is "Collect a number of items."
Rarely, an element is quadrupled within a character. 器 is one such example, as is 斷 (the previous form of 断). Quadrupling 龍 dragon by aligning two on top and two on bottom produces a 64 stroke character offered in some dictionaries with the meaning "verbose."
Transformation of Elements
Elements sometimes morph into other, graphically similar but originally distinct elements. This process has occurred both in China and Japan.
For instance, the 几 elements in 机 and 冗 are now identical in appearance. However, the 几 in 机 was originally a pictograph of a pedestal, while the 几 in 冗 was originally an ideograph showing two curving lines serving as an abstract representation of the idea of "sloppy/loose." As for 宿, this character appears to contain the element 百 (one hundred), but an early form of 宿 reveals the element to have been two people sleeping with their knees pulled to their chests.
In Japan, distinctions between certain characters have been muddied by post-war alterations of standard forms (see above). The 免 and 東 elements in 逸 and 練 are two examples, having once been the similar but etymologically distinct 兔 and 柬. Compare also the previous form of 盗, which was 盜.
Of course, it also happens that certain elements transform into other, quite different elements. Whether the transformations were deliberate or the results of miscopying is a matter of interpretation. Examples from China include the 月 element in 服, 前, 朕, and 勝 inter alia (originally 舟), the 示 element in 票 (originally 火), the 言 element in 設 (originally a pictograph of a chisel), the 辛 element in 辞 (originally 司) and so on.
On the other hand, some elements that now appear independent were once more familiar in form. Examples include 急 (originally 心 + 及), and 春 (originally 日 + an element combining 屯 [shoot swelling up below the surface of the earth] and 艸 grass/plant).
Abbreviated Forms
Often, an element appearing within a character serves as an abbreviated form of a graphically similar element. We can see this tendency at work in characters such as 泣, 殖, 皇 and 胎, where 立, 直, 王, and 台 act as abbreviated forms of 粒, 植, 自 and 始, respectively. As stated above, for the Chinese, the important thing was that an element suggest the proper sound; graphic considerations were secondary.
Action Indicators
Five elements having something to do with a hand account for nearly all action indicators. These are 手, 又, 寸, 殳 (originally, a hand placing an object upright) and 攴 (variant form: 攵), originally a hand wielding a stick.
The only other action indicator used with any frequency is 彳. Drawn from the left side of 行 go/crossroads, 彳 normally indicates "movement," but functions as an action indicator in characters such as 律, 得, 徳, 徹 and 循.
Among other elements employed as action indicators are 廾 pair of hands (in 弊), 夂 leg (in 腹), and 辵 movement (in 選).
ON and KUN Readings of Kanji
In Japan, kanji are pronounced according to what are known as ON and KUN readings. ON (音) readings are Japanese emulations of the sounds of the characters as they were pronounced on the Asian mainland at the time they were imported to Japan. KUN (訓) readings are native Japanese terms that were assigned to kanji of like meanings. For example, the character 芋 (potato) has an ON reading of ウ and a KUN reading of いも. All characters created in China have ON readings, though in modern Japanese these readings are sometimes obsolete, such as with 皿, 貝 and 箱. Meanwhile, not all characters bear KUN readings, but those that do may have multiple readings. For example, 生 and 下 each have ten KUN readings in common usage.
The background of the ON readings is quite complex. Beginners can get by if they bear in mind that there are two main types of ON readings, explaining why 下 is pronounced KA in 地下 but GE in 下品, or why 間 is pronounced KAN in 間隔 but KEN in 世間. The following explanation is for those with a deeper than average interest in the development of Japanese.
There are four types of ON readings: GO (呉), KAN (漢), TOSO (唐宋) and Customary.
GO readings take their name from the 呉 Wu (Japanese: ゴ) Kingdom (C.E. 222-280). The Wu Kingdom was one of the trio of entities that comprise the Three Kingdoms Period (C.E. 220-280) of Chinese history, the others being the 魏 Wei (220-265) and the 蜀 Shu (221-263) Kingdoms.
The GO readings penetrated Japan from the Asuka (飛鳥) Period (592-645 or 592-710) through the Nara (奈良) Period (710-784). GO readings are of two types. The first are readings taken from the spoken language of the Yangzijiang (揚子江) Basin as filtered through the Korean kingdom of Paekche (百済). The second readings were transmitted directly to Japan from Zhejiang (浙江省) Province, where the 呉 Wu Kingdom had been sited.
GO readings that remain in use in contemporary Japanese are often connected with Buddhist terms, though they are the sole ON readings for common characters such as:
応（オウ not ヨウ）；教（キョウ not コウ）；限（ゲン not カン）；七（シチ not シツ）；妻（サイ not セイ）；晶（ショウ not セイ）；浄（ジョウ not セイ）；礎（ソ not ショ）；俗（ゾク not ショク）；庁（チョウ not テイ）；痛（ツウ not トウ）；難（ナン not ダン）；忍（ニン not ジン）；能（ノウ not ドウ）；百（ヒャク not ハク）；普（フ not ホ）；便（ベン not ヘン）；毎（マイ not バイ）；脈（ミャク not バク）；民（ミン not ビン）；務（ム not ブ）；眠（ミン not ベン）；免（メン not ベン）；黙（モク not ボク）
KAN readings are those of the Sui (隋 A.D. 581-618) and Tang (唐 618-907) Dynasties. Some scholars believe that Sui Dynasty readings were making their way into Japan simultaneously with the GO readings, but generally the KAN readings are considered to have been transmitted during the early Heian (平安) Period (794-1192).
The KAN readings are based on the language spoken in the capital of the Sui and the Tang, Changan (長安: present-day Xian [西安] in Shaanxi [陜西] Province). The pronunciations were brought back to Japan by visiting emissaries and students.
TOSO readings are those of the Sung (宋 960-1279 A.D), Mongol (元 1271-1368), Ming (明 1368-1644) and Manchu (清 1616-1912) Periods. They were brought into Japan by merchants and Buddhist priests in the Kamakura (鎌倉) Period (1192-1333) and on down. Examples of TOSO readings include 杏子（アンズ）, 行脚（アンギャ）, 椅子（イス）, 提燈 or 提灯（チョウチン）, and 蒲団（フトン）.
Customary readings are those that were transmitted imperfectly. Examples include 重（ジュウ；KAN チュウ and GO ジュ）；験（ケン；KAN and GO ゲン）；崇（スウ；KAN シュウ and GO シュ）；軍（グン； KAN and GO クン）
In extreme cases, a character can be equipped with all four types of ON readings. One such character is 杏 (apricot), the ON readings of which are ギョウ (GO); コウ (KAN); アン (TOSO); and キョウ (Customary).
However, most characters have only one or two readings in active use.
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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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Site Contents Copyright (C) 2004-2008 Lawrence J. Howell
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