Thursday, 15 December 2011

Five

Reading: GO, itsu-

Strokes: 4

Etymology: Five was once shown by five horizontal strokes (fingers).

This was replaced by a pictograph of a thread-reel, which served phonetically (sound) and for the fact that it replaced the work of five fingers.

Mnemonic: A REEL IS BETTER THAN FIVE FINGERS


Combinations:

五人 (gonin) five people
五日 (istuka) fifth day

(Based upon Henshall, 1998)

No comments:

Post a Comment