Monday, March 17, 2008

Mnemonics

mne·mon·ics [ni-mon-iks] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation –noun (used with a singular verb) the process or technique of improving or developing the memory.

Or you could say, "How do you remember that?"

A discussion of kanji and the various ways that *I* remember them!

賛 as in '賛成' (さんせい). You will need to zoom in on this kanji (Rikaichan will work wonders in that department). When I look at this kanji, for whatever odd reason, the top part resembles sparkling eyes and the lower portion a smiling mouth. This is the face your father or mother might show you when they're happy about something you've done, and the kanji means something very close to this.

老 as in '老いる' (おいる). For me, the lower portion is all it takes to conjure up the correct meaning. The lower stroke curves down and right giving me the impression that this kanji is weathered with age. And funny enough, it means 'old, aged'.

誌 as in '雑誌' (ざっし). A three-part tear down for recognition: the left side is '言う' or 'to say', so we know this has to do with literature or speaking. The upper right is 土 for 'ground, soil, earth' giving us 'words on the ground' or 'words on the street'. The next is 心 for 'heart', but it means heart more in the metaphysical sense of 'emotional stuff' in this context. Put them all together: street words near to your heart. 雑誌 happens to mean 'magazine'. What better place to find a bunch of words sold on the street that are near to your heart? 誌 can mean 'magazine' on it's own in fact ~

1 comment:

avixz said...

Hi guys,

I've just opened a blog to translate full metal alchemy anime scripts, maybe you're interested, I'll need a lot of help :P (http://www.japanesealchemy.blogspot.com)