Mirror Images: Part 2
Friday, July 11th, 2008
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Long time no see! Speaking of length, last time we looked at 長 (CHŌ, naga), which usually means “long” or “chief.” In that discussion, we encountered the following word:
足長 (ashinaga: long-leggedness) legs + long
And we saw how this compound puts the long legs in daddy longlegs:
足長おじさん (ashinaga-ojisan: daddy longlegs)
Although people usually write ojisan (uncle) in hiragana, you can also represent this word with 叔父さん, which breaks down as uncle + father.
On Daddy Longlegs (the Spiders) …
Other Animals with Length to Them …
What happens if we take those long legs and turn them on their head? That is, what if we invert the compound? We get this:
長足 (chōsoku: rapid or giant strides) long + legs
Everything changes: the yomi (from kun-kun to on-on) and the meaning. The idea of “strides” makes me imagine that the spider itself could still be in the picture. In fact, I want to say this:
足長おじさんが長足で歩きます。
Ashinaga ojisan ga chōsoku de arukimasu.
The daddy longlegs walks with great strides.
But in fact, the “great strides” more often turn out to be a metaphorical way of referring to progress.
Just as an inversion turns 足長 into 長足, it seems that 長 compounds contain a wealth of inverted possibilities. Take, for instance, this pair:
座長 (zachō: chairman, moderator, troupe leader) to sit + chief
By the way, I notice that “chairman” similarly breaks down as something related to sitting + person!
長座 (chōza: to stay long) long + to sit
This second compound, 長座, seems as if it would have a negative nuance, but that’s not necessarily the case. However, the following word has a similar breakdown and does have a negative meaning:
長尻 (nagajiri: overstaying one’s welcome) long + buttocks
I think the actual buttocks aren’t long! Rather, they’ve been rooted to one spot for a lengthy amount of time! For other negative words about wearing out one’s welcome or about long, boring things, check out the next link.
For more fun with inversions, have a go at the first Verbal Logic Quiz.
And just to make sure your summer doesn’t feel long and boring, treat yourself to a second Verbal Logic Quiz, on the house.
Posted by Eve Kushner in Kanji Curiosity |
July 13th, 2008 at 6:34 am
I read that the founder of the Benihana restaurant chain died.
http://www.sfgate.com/
His name was originally Hiroaki Aoki, a fascinating name (in that Hiroaki contains a permutation of Aoki) that he lamentably changed to Rocky Aoki!
I also like the headline that describes his various roles in life: “Benihana steakhouse founder, wrestler, balloonist.”
Anyway, I’ll bring the subject back to kanji. The obituary said that “Benihana” means “red flower.” The “hana” as flower is clearly 花. And the “beni”? That’s 紅, which means “deep red; crimson.” We see this kanji in 紅茶 (kōcha: English tea). This breaks down as “red” + “tea,” because the Japanese see “black” tea as red.
Aoki took the name “Benihana” from the name his parents had given their coffee shop name. Funny that a family whose name (Aoki) breaks down as “blue/green tree” should choose the name “red flower.” I wonder if they did that on purpose.
July 14th, 2008 at 11:08 am
Me again. Sorry to be so morbid, but now I’ve read another obit, this time of a kanji lover. Thought I’d share it with you.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/
Turns out we went to the same college, which is weird, considering that this blog was partly about coincidences. But he had 4 wives (sequentially, not simultaneously), and I haven’t even had 1, so it seems that the similarities in our lives stop at kanji and college.
July 15th, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I enjoyed the Washington Post article and want to read more about this colorful personality. Besides his language skills, he was good enough to play with Harry James!
Your comment is funny: it reminds me of film directors Yasujiro Ozu and Wim Wenders. Wenders idolizes Ozu so much but there is one area in which he never followed the path of his mentor. Ozu never married and Wenders married at least four times.
July 16th, 2008 at 1:00 am
I didn’t know Wenders idolized Ozu. I like both of them (Ozu much more), and I have trouble seeing the connection. I’ll need to see more of each.
Meanwhile, yet another coincidence. This a.m., I read an article about a guy in the San Francisco Bay Area who makes kanji wood art. That is, he burns kanji into driftwood. (Apparently, it’s an ancient Japanese art form, which I didn’t realize.) I was going to add the link here, but he drew the kanji wrong, and I just can’t have that!
Anyway, he’s also a musician, and in his list of musical influences, what name did I see but Harry James?! I’d never heard of James before this a.m. (Wonder how ignorant that makes me sound!)
July 16th, 2008 at 2:23 am
Give us the link of the artist, by all means. It is not such a big problem that the kanji is wrong, even an added charm, if you give a note about it, which you already did.
July 16th, 2008 at 2:30 am
Ha! I wondered if I would drive you crazy if I said all that I did but didn’t supply the link. My intention wasn’t to drive you crazy, of course! I just don’t like the look of kanji drawn wrong. Am I blind to its charms?!
Here it is, with the hook in the wrong direction in the water radical of 治. (Maybe he was trying to replicate typewritten kanji, rather than handwritten strokes.) The compound means “total healing.”
http://www.whisperinglight.com/art/
Here’s the bio where he lists his musical influences (at the bottom):
http://www.whisperinglight.com/bio/
I like his “Alternative, Hard, and Mainstream” list!