From: stueber@VAX.MPIZ-KOELN.MPG.DBP.DE
Newsgroups: sci.lang.japan
Subject: kanji of the day ?41
Date: 10 Sep 92 12:13:13 GMT
Reply-To: NIHONGO@mitvma.mit.edu
Organization: The Internet

KANJI OF THE DAY # 41

            1*                7*****
  2*        ******            ****
    **      ****              ****
      **  ****                ****
      ******                  ****
        **          4*        ****      ****
      ******        ****5*********************
    **    **        ****      ****      ****
  **      ****      ****      ****      ****
**        3***      ****      ****      ****
        ******      ****      ****      ****
        **  ****    ****      ****      ****
        **  ****    ****      ****      ****
      ****  ****    ****      ****      ****
      **    ****    ****6*******************
    ****    ****    ****      ****      ****
    **      ****    ****      ****
  **        ****              ****      9*
**          ****              ****        **
            ****              ****        ****
          ******              ****************
          ****    8*****************        ****
    **********      ********                ****
        ****        **                      ****

(Numbers indicate order and beginning of strokes)

JIS      = 3518 (serial number)
shiftJIS = 93C6 (hexcode)
NELSON   = 2884
MIYAMOTO = 9-242
KUNZE    = 142-15 (old form)

   OnYomi: DOKU
  Kunyomi: hito(ri)  -  alone, on one's own (also written with
                        the kanjis for ICHI=one and HITO=man)

Mnemonics:  "A dog stranded in muddy water" signifying alone-ness

Derivation:

The sign used today is an abbreviated form of the sign shown below:
     JIS = 5977 (Serial number of old form)
ShiftJIS = E0D5 (Hexcode of old form)


          **      **                    ****
          ******  ****************************
  **      ****    ****    **    **      ****
    **    ****    ****    **    **      ****  <--net
      ******      ****    **    **      ****
        **        **************************
      ******          **
      **  **          ******
    **    ****        ****                ****
  **      ****      **************************** <--human figure (worker)
**      ******      **      **            ****
        ******    **        **            ****
      **  ****  **  ******************    ****
      **  ******    **      **      **    ****
    **    ****      **      **      **    ****
  **      ****      **      **      **    ****
**        ****      ******************    ****
          ****              **            ****
          ****              **  **        ****
          ****              **    **      ****
        ******    ********************  ******
        ****        ********      ****  ****
  **********        **            **********
      ****                  ^         ****
       ^                    |
       |                 silk moth or small insect
   "dog" or wild animal radical


The right part signifies a salt mining machinery as used in
Szechwan province. Here it stands for the MUDDY salt water coming
from the salt wells.

KUNZE gives a simpler explanation of the sign. He concentrates on
the dog and the small insect part and claims that a dog heavily
inhabited with fleas and lice sure leads a LONELY life.

Compounds:

DOKUritsu   -   independence
DOKUtoku    -   peculiar, unique
DOKUshou    -   vocal solo
seiDOKU     -   West Germany (now fused with touDOKU)

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KUNZE (1938) also realized that this sign is used to designate GERMANY
(because of phonetic similarities). But he also strongly says that:
"We Germans protest against a sign with such a pejorative basic meaning
being used for our name" (Wir Deutschen lehnen ein Zeichen mit so
ausgesprochen beschimpfender Grundbedeutung fuer unseren Namen ab).

Well he must have confused phonetic and symbolic meaning and surely
nobody has listened to him, since the sign of course is still
used todate, though in many cases the Japanese now write do-i-tsu
in katakana.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kurt Stueber
e-mail: stueber@vax.mpiz-koeln.mpg.dbp.de
Tel:  +49-221-5062537
Fax:  +49-221-5062513

This is Nr. 0041
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