Kanji Mastery—Radical 46 (Mountain)

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[a] Fuji   RF

"Mountain" is an ancient graph in East Asian writing, with weaving, sinuous veins that worked their way into all aspects of life. Chinese officials who tired of the official rat-race would (so the stories go) retire "to the mountains," and hermits (Daoist or otherwise) were said to live there in order to avoid the taint of society. In Japan, during its Warring States (sengoku) period (c. 1450- c.1600), mountains provided borders, fortifications, and hiding places for enemies (depending on one's perspective). In Korea, the great lines of mountains down the peninsula created natural borders that would, in turn, become political ones in various states as they developed.

Let's take a look at the etymology of the character, followed by a few combinations. By all means, check out the following sites for useful information on the character:

Chineseeytymology.org

 

Chinese-Characters.org

山

Radical 46

Chinese (Mandarin): shan1  (Cantonese): saan1

Japanese (on): さん san  (kun): やま yama
Korean: 산 san

Selections from The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary.

山 Radical 46

Yama mountain. At left: yamahen. Nickname: Mountain
SAN mount, mountain
yama mountain, hill, height, knoll, heap, pile; crown (of a hat); seam (of an obi); speculation, adventure; climax, acme, crisis; forest; mine.


山刀　　やまがたな　yamagatana   　 woodman's hatchet
山口　　やまぐち　　yamaguchi       　start of a climb
山川　　やまがわ　　yamagawa　       mountain stream

山中　　やまなか　　yamanaka            in the mountains (on alternate: さんちゅう)

山山　　やまやま　　yamayama　       very much

山田  　  やまだ　　   yamada               rice fields in the hills

山男　　やまおとこ　yamaotoko　       wild man; woodsman; hillbilly

山嵐　　やまあらし　yama arashi　     mountain storm
山椒　　さんしょう　sanshou　           black pepper
山賊　　さんぞく       sanzoku               mountain bandit

[b] Shrine  RF