九
부수: 乙
획수: 2획
九 simply means nine.
九 = 九
X = phonetic borrowing
• 九 depicts a bent elbow and came to mean ‘nine’ through phonetic borrowing.
Some scholars suggest a bent elbow was when counting the number nine on one hand. Other scholars suggest that 九 depicts the shape of dragons.
Evolution:
九 = a bent arm ➔ borrowed use ➔ nine
Mnemonic
Imagine 丿 as a person’s torso and ㇈ as their arm with the elbow bent downwards. Remember that a bent elbow is said to have indicated the number nine when counting on one hand.
Alternatively, consider that there is only a hook difference between nine 九 and ten 十. Consider the hook as ten minus one.
Vocab
| 九 | 구 | nine |
| 九月 | 구월 | September |
| 九角形 | 구각형 | nonagon |
| 九尾狐 | 구미호 | nine-taled fox |
| 九死一生 | 구사일생 | narrow escape from death |
| 주먹九九 | 주먹구구 | rough estimate |
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Bibliography
— Daum 사전, [s.v. 九].
— Grant, B.K. (1982). A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja, [s.v. 6]. Seoul: Hollym.
— Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters, [s.v. 九].
— 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. 13]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.