頃
부수: 頁
획수: 11획
頃 has a few area and time associated meanings.
頃 = 匕 + 頁
X = semantic + semantic
• 匕 is a fusion of two separate forms: one depicting a spoon and the other depicting a person. It can mean either ‘spoon’ or ‘person’.
• 頁 depicts a person with an enlarged head to give its meaning of ‘head’.
Evolution:
頃 = ’bent head’ ➔ ’slanted’
頃 = ’bent head’ ➔ borrowed use ➔ unit of land area ➔ wide
頃 = ’bent head’ ➔ borrowed use ➔ unit of land area ➔ time meanings
From the unit of land area (equal to 100 畝) is believed to come the meaning ‘a short while’ via metaphor. From this comes the meanings ‘just now’ and ‘about’.
Mnemonic
Since this character has a borrowed meaning which does not relate to its components, brute force memorisation is recommended.
Alternatively, imagine someone tilting 匕 their head 頁 to show puzzlement as they attempt to read the time off a sundial.
Vocab
| 萬頃 | 만경 | boundless |
| 頃刻 | 경각 | an instant, moment |
| 時頃 | 시경 | approximate hour |
Other resources
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Bibliography
Affiliate links help support uK.
— Daum 사전, [s.v. 頃].
— Grant, B.K. (1982). A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja, [s.v. 1053]. Seoul: Hollym.
— Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters, [s.v. 頃, 匕, 頁].
— Seely, C., Henshall, K.G., & Fan, J. (2016). The Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji: Remembering and Understanding the 2,136 Standard Japanese Characters, [s.v. 1356]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.