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TE N
a ma tsu ・ a me ・ a ma~
Glyph elements [ Toggle Font ]
Original glyph that this one replaces used elements of either「dragging off a prepubescent girl」or「jerking emerging shafts」(䒶). In some modern fonts, appears to depict「array」and「big」as OUTER SPACE,「both hands spread exceptionally wide」while looking up at the SKY (praying to the gods in heaven, they say), or the HEAVENS at night…however,「horizontal motion with both hands」back and forth for one purpose or another is much more likely (as described by the original, related glyph 䒶). Traditional fonts depict these elements as a「downward thrusting penis taut, to one side and then the other side」suggestive of a sequence of penetrations as BEING IN THE CLOUDS (宇), HEAVENLY, AS GOOD AS IT GETS, FLOATING IN AIR, DIVINE, and so on.
Vocabulary meanings of DIPPING STIFF MEAT INTO SAUCE, and, DEEP-FRIED HOT AND BUBBLING, refer to the original elements as well, especially if you realize that tempura soba includes peeled shrimp coated with whitish batter and the curled but stiff shape of hot and firm meat inside. Allegedly a Portuguese word that was transliterated into Japanese, no one need guess why this particular glyph was selected to express the pronunciation てん from among 150 or so glyphs in the JIS list that have this same pronunciation…ever notice how the back of a peeled prawn resembles the underside of a schwantz?
Other meanings can easily be imagined from these elements. Early humans were more akin to bonobos than to God, and perhaps are still (blame dopamine, if you must blame).
Note that the glyph meaning「young, youth, to die young」that often refers to a divine service provider, or, to mentulomanaical selfie sessions (夭, repeatedly with two hands) is drawn exactly as is「heavenly」in some glyphs. Displayed in traditional Chinese fonts as「two male adults」not a subtle reference to the rampant homosexuality of both China and Japan in the past (with no commentary here related to the present).
External source definitions …excluding politically incorrect concepts and other meanings deemed offensive today; may include extended definitions, euphemisms, and mnemonics)
Chinese: day; sky; heaven
Japanese EDRDG: heavens, sky, imperial
Unihan extended: sky, heaven; god, celestial
Used within names (nanori)
あき ・ あも ・ た ・ たかし ・ て ・ なま
Always keep in mind that these glyphs most likely were originally designed by groups of clever old men as vulgar riddles for their own entertainment
(see 籒 for that),
representing Chinese society many thousands of years ago, but intended NOT as a written or spoken language when created.
If these glyphs had been intended for language use, the sages could not have possibly designed a worse system!
Is it truly possible that all these glyphs started out as off-color jokes and puzzles?
Yes! It is, and often with multiple correct answers to each riddle, the same as is true today.
Sex had no shame in ancient China.
Why would it?
But, have there been necessary rewrites and altered explanations of the original elemental meanings over the centuries?
No one is suggesting these glyphs depict contemporary life in China, Japan, or anywhere else.
This site describes glyph meanings, not people.
These glyphs however, describe many and various things, including people, long before there were any notions of becoming politically incorrect.
The question to be answered is, should these glyphs continue being used, by anyone, anywhere, for expressing language?
(More...)
Despite how seemingly bad our human existence is today, do you actually believe that the so-called good old days were any better?
Or could they have been worse?
By the way, with a limited number of the same elements used by the sages again and again to form these glyphs,
you should expect to find the same explanations again and again, as tedious as that may become, and as an inherent trait of any lexicon.
This site explains multiple meanings of glyphs ignored or censored by other sources, generally as being too embarrassing to admit today.
Primal elements
Japanese vocabulary: 879 entries
Chinese usage: 876 entries
Used in glyphs (or, see also): 181 entries
Related glyphs [ Toggle font ]
丆Similar glyphs with related meanings: 43 entries
- Glyph.00140
- Strokes: 04
- jlpt-N5 grade_01
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This publication has included material from the MDBG free online English to Chinese dictionary files in accordance with the license provisions of the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License.
This publication has included material from the JMdict (EDICT, etc.) dictionary files in accordance with the license provisions of the Electronic Dictionaries Research Group.
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