先
부수: 儿
획수: 6획
先 has the meanings ‘first’, ‘front’ and ‘foremost’.
先 = ⺧ + 儿
X = semantic (distortion) + semantic
• ⺧ is a distortion of 止 (‘foot’ depicted with toes pointed upwards). This is associated with ‘movement’.
• 儿 depicts a side view of a person and means ‘person’.
先 combines 止 (foot) and 儿 (person) to mean ‘person moving forward’. This came to mean ‘front’ or ‘ahead’ and thus ‘foremost’.
Evolution:
先 = ’to move forward’ ➔ ’ahead’ ➔ ’first’
Mnemonic
Neil Armstrong was the first 先 man 儿 to step 止 on the moon.
Vocab
| 于先 | 우선 | first of all; for the time being |
| 先生 | 선생 | teacher; professional; Mr./Mrs. |
| 先輩 | 선배 | senior; elder |
| 先例 | 선례 | precedent |
| 先行 | 선행 | being ahead; preceding |
| 先頭 | 선두 | head; leader; forefront |
| 先發 | 선발 | starter (sports) |
| 先世 | 선세 | advance payment of rent |
| 先驅者 | 선구자 | pioneer; forerunner; trailblazer |
| 先入觀 | 선입관 | prejudice; stereotype; preconception |
| 先進國 | 선진국 | advanced country; developed country |
| 先天性障碍 | 선천성 장애 | congenital disability |
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Bibliography
— Grant, B.K. (1982). A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja, [s.v. 210]. Seoul: Hollym.
— Henshall, K.G. (1998). A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, [s.v. 49]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.
— Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters, [s.v. 先, 止, 儿].
— 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. 51]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.