男
부수: 田
획수: 7획
男 has the meanings ‘man’ and ‘male’.
男 = 田 + 力
X = semantic + semantic
• 田 depicts a field divided by paths. This is used to represent ‘in the field’.
• 力 depicts a plough. This is used to represent ‘effort’ and ‘work’.
Since ploughing the fields was man’s work, these two components represent the meanings ‘male’ and ‘man’.
Evolution:
男 = ’male’ ➔ ’man’
Mnemonic
Look at the historical forms to see how 男 depicts ‘ploughing 力 the field 田‘. Imagine 力 as the figure of a man 男 working in the field on a hot day. Above his head is a thought cloud where he’s thinking about the farm 田.
Vocab
| 男子 | 남자 | a man, a male |
| 男性 | 남성 | masculine gender |
| 男女 | 남녀 | male and female |
| 男便 | 남편 | husband |
| 男妹 | 남매 | one’s own children; brother and sister |
| 長男 | 장남 | eldest son |
| 次男 | 차남 | second eldest son |
| 男色 | 남색 | sodomy |
| 男根羨望 | 남근선망 | penis envy |
Other resources
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Bibliography
— Grant, B.K. (1982). A Guide To Korean Characters: Reading and Writing Hangul and Hanja, [s.v. 375]. Seoul: Hollym.
— Henshall, K.G. (1998). A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters, [s.v. 54]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.
— Outlier Dictionary of Chinese Characters, [s.v. 男, 田, 力].
— 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. 57]. Singapore: Tuttle Publishing.