#ideographic

[thatshowthingstarted]

Cone of Urukagina, king of Lagash, circa 2350  BC,

Girsu, Mesopotamia,

Detailing his reforms againt abuse of "old days".

Height: 27 cm (10.6 in); diameter: 15 cm (5.9 in).

Collections of the Louvre (Department of Near Eastern Antiquities).

[kanjiexplained]

Kanji of the day: 喜

喜 - Rejoice, take pleasure in

Kun: よろこ.ぶ、よろこ.ばす

On: キ

(Pinyin: xǐ | xi3 )

Ideographic: Depicts someone making merry with a drum 壴 and their mouth 口; drumming and making noise with their mouth; drumming and singing; partying

As far as I'm aware, 壴 is not used for drum in modern Japanese. Instead 鼓 is used, which you might notice uses the older 壴 as a component.

(喜 as it appeared in the Shuowen Jiezi, ~100 AD, with a slightly clearer drum + decoration on top of it)

(Example of a Chinese brass drum with decoration on top, supposedly from the Zhou dynasty, to further illustrate how 壴 is meant to picture a decorated drum)

Strokes: 12

Radical: 口 mouth

[my-kelde]

John Hoyland R.A. Lucky Dream, 1991.

acrylic on canvas 

[ancestralvoices]

Did you know? What else could you possibly learn today? Ancestral Voices Learning Resources dedicated to preserving information on African Spiritual Philosophies practices. See link in bio for information on our work which includes documentaries, books and courses. 40% off courses deal ends tomorrow. Claim your discount code now! #nsibidi #ekoi #symbols #graphics #script #ancientscript #igbo #ibibio #efik #nigeria #cameroon #ideographic #writing #writingsystems https://www.instagram.com/p/B4QvIhOjpQN/?igshid=yvp020w6sia0

[kanjiexplained]

Kanji of the day: 驚

驚 - Wonder, be surprised, frightened, amazed

Kun: おどろ.く、おどろ.かす On: キョウ (Pinyin: jīng | jing1 )

Pictophonetic: 敬 represents the sound (pinyin jìng | jing4),  馬 (horse) represents the meaning

Also Ideographic: Awe 敬 (awe, respect), but in a spooked way 馬 (horse)

This kanji originally only meant to frighten/to startle - horses are notoriously skittish and easily startled, hence the choice of 馬 as the meaning component.

Strokes: 22 Radical: 馬 horse

[kanjiexplained]

Kanji of the day: 計

計 - Plot, plan, scheme, measure, count

Kun: はか.る、 はか.らう On: ケイ (Pinyin: jì | ji4 )

Ideographic: speaking 言 (speech) numbers 十 (ten) out loud. Counting; calculating.

Strokes: 9 Radical: 言 speech

[kanjiexplained]

Kanji of the day: 薬

薬 - Medicine, chemical, enamel, gunpowder, benefit

Kun: くすり On: ヤク (Pinyin: yào | yao4 )

Pictophonetic: 楽 indicates the sound (pinyin lè | le4, yuè | yue4) 艹/艸 (grass) indicates the meaning

The phonetic component has changed so much it's barely recognizable in the Chinese pinyin, but it's still visibly related in the Japanese On-readings (薬 = ヤク vs 楽 = ガク、ラク)

Also ideographic: Relieving 楽 (ease, comfort) grass 艹/艸 (grass)

Strokes: 16 Radical: 艸 grass

[kanjiexplained]

Kanji of the day: 新

新 - New

Kun: あたら.しい、あら.た、あら-、にい- On: シン (pinyin: xīn | xin1 )

Ideographic: A tree 亲, freshly chopped 斤 (axe)

You may be thinking - why use this weird 亲 to represent a tree instead of just the simple, normal 木? The answer lies in phonetics. To clarify the word in question as much as possible, 辛 (spicy, bitter, pinyin xīn | xin1 ) was added to the tree part 木. Originally this 亲 kanji came to represent a hazelnut tree (pinyin zhēn | zhen1 ), and while it has now lost this original meaning (榛 is now the normal kanji for hazel) this "fruit-bearing tree" meaning stuck around for some of the other words this component still sticks around in (see 親 - parent, relative)

Fun fact 1: Did you know this kanji originally meant firewood? Both "firewood" and "new" were pronounced xīn | xin1 and could be communicated with the ideographic chopped tree, but the "new" meaning was presumably more popular in writing and stuck around - to differentiate, firewood is now written with the 艹 grass radical on top of it 薪 .

Strokes: 13 Radical: 斤 axe