炭 wood charcoal, carbonized, coal; wood that has been heated fired and with all fluids removed 丶,丿,乀,人,丷,匕,屵,ナ,火,山,灰,

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炭

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On-yomi [ Toggle rōmaji ]

タン
TA　N

Kun-yomi

すみ
su　mi

Glyph elements [ Toggle Font ]

丶

チュ,× emphasized part of a glyph

　[emphasis is HERE in a glyph]
　

丿

ヘツ,えい,よう straight up erect, quick jerking movement, stretched taut

　ERECT, FLING
　

乀

フツ,ブチ,ま stretched taut; leashed under control of another; the other side (of something)

　STRETCHED TAUT
　

人

ジン,ニン,ひと,～り,～と person, a man, male adult

　HEAD or ERECT with TAUT, STRETCHED
　

丷

× emit upward

　EMISSIONS, EMIT DROPS
　

匕

ヒ,さじ must remain sitting most of the time, device for scooping fluids, used for piercing or stabbing into

　REPEATED, BOBBING HEAD of PENIS
…or: PREPUBESCENT GIRL merged with PENIS
　

屵

ガツ,ガチ,ゲツ,ゲチ,きしがたかい,あおご mountainous cliffs, butte; gland extending from hand

　EMERGE, PEAKED with CLIFF, CURTAIN
…or: HAND below ROD in CAVITY
…or: GLANS above HAND
　

ナ

× HTML entity: ナ hand (as an element); use of one's hand

　ROD with SLIDING HEAD
…or: ERECT ROD
　

火

カ,ひ,～び,ほ～ heated, in heat, burning, on fire, flaming

　IN PURSUIT of SERVICE PROVIDER, PERSON WHO MUST REMAIN SEATED
…or: EMISSIONS of MALE PERSON
…or: emphasis on TWO ERECTIONS JUXTAPOSED
…or: ERECTION TAUT and EMITTING
…or: ERECTIONS JUXTAPOSED with EMISSIONS
　

山

サン,セン,やま peaked, mountain-like shape, lava cone, eruptions, speculated area to be covered during an examination, wadded bundle of raw sticky threads, rod in sheath cavity, glans penis

　UPRIGHT VERTICAL MOTION within CAVITY
…or: ROD protruding from CAVITY
　

灰

カイ,はい ash, discouraged, dejected, ashen, gray, to incinerate

　CLIFF or HAND and HEATED, IN HEAT BURNING ON FIRE FLAMING
…or: ROD ERECT IN HEAT
　

Meanings of elements

CLIFFHANGER BUTTE, GLAND EXTENDING FROM HAND and HEATED IN FIRE
…or: PEAKED LAVA CONE, WADDED BUNDLE OF RAW STICKY THREADS, GLANS, ROD in CAVITY with SADNESS THAT SOMETHING ENDED, DEJECTED, ASHES

「Emerges with ash」after a campfire for example: WOOD CHARCOAL as charred but not fully-burned wood, normally having nearly all the fluid content removed (becoming fully dry: 干). Top element is not too likely「mountain」in that case, since wood charcoal is not found any more often below a mountain than most anywhere else on land. Moreover, one might argue it would be found there much less often in fact, as fires do not often occur on Earth underneath a large pile of rock and dirt, normally due to a lack of sufficient oxygen at the site to support combustion.
However,「glans」of a 'woody' that is often equated in glyphs with red embers on the tip of a burning fagot (faggot), but after the fire has been extinguished and cooled with「hand over flames, discouraged」at being unable to continue, elements seem to be referring to a 'burned-out, flame-out' condition of wood, flaming in the past but no longer burning, similar to WOOD CHARCOAL. Needless to point out is that COAL also has 'fire potential' for re-burning, rekindling as might a「glans in hand in heat.」
If one thinks of「ash」as a carbonization process rather than the quite recent remains of combustion with oxygen, then「carbonization under mountain」also makes sense, not as recently formed wood charcoal per se, but as LIGNITE, and eventually bituminous and/or anthracite COAL often mined from「under mountains.」COAL is formed by a combination of time, pressure, and heat, depicted here using「mountain, hand, flame」respectively.
Be sure to see the other glyphs that share the Japanese pronunciation, すみ: 叕, 侚, 炭, 速, 陬, 寁, 焏, 隅, 隈, 墨, 綴, 遬, and 墨.

External source definitions …excluding politically incorrect concepts and other meanings deemed offensive today; may include extended definitions, euphemisms, and mnemonics)
Chinese: wood charcoal; coal
Japanese EDRDG: charcoal, coal
Unihan extended: charcoal; coal; carbon

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.