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Well, a promise is a promise. I told you that no matter how much 環 intimidated me, especially in the context of 環境 (kankyō: environment, situation), I would eventually return to this wild beast of a kanji and tame it.

Fortunately, 環 is not a bad-looking character. Let’s have a better look:

環

The radical, 王, is symmetrical, if slightly cramped and warped now that it’s been pushed off to the left. On the right-hand side, the top part makes a strong geometric statement, like a row of small windows. The 一 … well, who can find anything wrong with a horizontal line? And as for the bottom part, the only thing that bothers me is a tiny stroke that throws off the balance. If not for that one stroke, this component would be symmetrical, and the whole character would have nothing but local symmetries. But I’ll just think of that stroke as a freckle or a birthmark—something I should be able to overlook.

Henshall, of course, approaches these components with an eye to meaning, rather than beauty.

Henshall on the Etymology of 環 …

You’re Surrounded!

When we first saw 環境, I said the breakdown was to surround + situation. As an astute reader has since noted, Yahoo’s dictionary breaks down this compound as to surround + region with a clear boundary. Anyway, 環 can have two meanings:

1. ring, circle, loop
2. to surround, encircle; around

As “surround,” 環 doesn’t seem to involve itself in terribly interesting words. The only two I could find were these:
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