# 33 thematic explorations

Just Add Water

To how many things can you add water, creating a
new substance? Water + powder = soapsuds. And
water + dirt = mud. But in Japan it works differently,
in terms of kanji, anyway. When the water radical
combines with certain kanji, it produces new and
sometimes surprising characters.
1.

SEN, arau
water + previous = to wash

The kanji appears in (otearai: bathroom), (senn: brainwashing), and

(maruarai: washing a kimono without taking it
apart).
2.

water + sheep = ocean, with an

associated meaning of Western
The kanji appears in (Taiheiy: Pacic
Ocean), (ty: the Orient), and (yshoku:
Western food).
3.

KAI, umi

water + every = sea

The kanji appears in (kaisui: seawater),
(kaiin: sailor), (kaiba: seahorse), and
(umibzu: sea monster).
4.

KAN, ase

water + dry = sweat

The kanji appears in (kangan: sweating
from shame).
5.

H, nori

water + to leave = method, law

The kanji appears in (bunp: grammar),
(hh: method), and (hritsu: law). The
character is also in (h: ex-emperor who has
become a monk), as well as , issunbshi,
translated as dwarf, midget, Tom Thumb.
6.

YU, Y, abura

water + reason = oil

The kanji appears in (aburae: oil painting)
and (shyu: soy sauce).
74

The Architecture of a Character

7.

KETSU, kimeru

water + to pull apart = to decide

The kanji appears in (kettei: decision, determination), (kekki: springing to ones feet
with renewed resolve), (kesshten: goal,
nish line), and the rhyming word (ketsuretsu:
breakdown, rupture, collapse).
8.

KY, naku

water + to stand = to cry

These components prompted an older male classmate of mine to say, I usually sit down to cry. The
kanji appears in (otokonaki: weeping in
spite of being a man), (nakiwarai: smiling
through tears), (nakiharasu: to get swollen eyes from crying), (nakijgo: maudlin
drinker), and (ureshinaki: crying for joy).
9.

CH, sosogu

water + master = to pour

The kanji appears in (chmon: [food] order)
and (chi: attention, warning, caution).
10.

SHI, JI, naosu, naoru

water + platform, self = to govern, heal

The kanji appears in (seijika: politician)

and (Meiji: the era from 1868 to 1912).
11.

N, koi

water + farming = thick, deep, rich

Shouldnt wet farming produce the kanji for rice?
The character has to do with the concentration of liquids and colors, as in (ndo: degree
of concentration) and (komurasaki: deep
purple).
12.

KATSU, ikiru

water + tongue = life, activity

If your tongue isnt wet, youre no longer alive! The
kanji appears in (seikatsu: life), (katsuryoku: vitality, vigor) , and (katsud: activity).