Browsing the blog archives for August, 2011
kyaku Today’s character meaning to recede often accompanies other characters. Taikyaku is retreat or withdrawal. Both tai and kyaku means to go back. When this character comes after another character that implies actions, it makes a compound meaning that the action is completed. Here are some examples. bōkyaku … oblivion. If you have forgotten something [...]
iya-shii, iya-shimu, iya-shimeru, hi If somebody’s social class is iyashii, they are from the lower class. If somebody says that you are iyashii, you are criticized as greedy. Iyashimu and iyashimeru are both verbs meaning “to despise somebody.” Hige means self-depreciation or humility. The verb hige-suru is used when you put yourself down. Write the [...]
ten Kyōtenis a religious scripture. In Buddhism, kyōten is a sutra. Encyclopedia is jiten. Jiten with the same reading and another character is a dictionary. When you refer to somebody in your writing, you have to quote the source of the information. Sources you give are called shutten. Something typical or a model is expressed [...]
kō Maybe kōmoku is the most useful word including this kanji. It means an item. Some professionals might use kō. For example, in theses or legal documents, if it tells you to look at a certain “kō,” it tells you to read the indicated section. In math, equations consist of kō. Unless you are a mathematician, you don’t [...]
taku Today’s character always accompanies another character. It means high. Takken (taku and ken) means a penetrating opinion. Another meaning is a table. Shokutaku is a dining table. Takujō means “on the table.” A round table is called entaku. Write the vertical stroke from the top. Write the horizontal stroke touching the previous stroke. [...]
hotoke, futsu, butsu Hotoke means Buddha. Buddhism is bukkyō. Buddhists are bukkyōto. The “to” of bukkyōto means students. Japanese people are said to be unreligious but most of them die as Buddhists. Older Japanese people like “hō ji” (Buddhist memorial services) because hōji is the only event their estranged family and relatives meet. Amitabha is [...]
tsu-ku, tsu-keru, fu The verb tsuku is used when something attaches to something or sticks to something. Tsukeru is also a verb meaning to attach something to another. When I was a child, mother sometimes bought comic magazines for us. Those magazines always came with giveaways called furoku. The roku of furoku means to record. [...]
hone (bone!!!), kotsu If this is in your body, its reading is hone and its meaning is bones. Letter-wise hone and bone look alike and a voiced sound of hone is bone but the pronunciations of these words are very different from the English “hone” or “bone.” Hone sounds like hornet and bone sounds like [...]
koku Kokufuku means getting over. The verb kokufuku-suru means to overcome. If you like to read about Japanese history, you may be familiar to the word gekokujō. It occurred during the fourteenth and sixteenth century when lower class warriors defeated lords and seized their territory. In those days, territory owned by each lord was called kuni, [...]
waka-ru, han, ban Wakaru and hanmei-suru are verbs meaning “to become clear.” Hanketsu means a judicial decision. Hantei is a judgment made by authorities such as judges and referees. Han or hanko is a stamp or a seal. Formally, it is called inkan. We use seals in some formal occasions. When you make a contract with [...]