Kanji Mastery—Radical 94 (犬 Dog)

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Click here for an introduction to the Round and Square series "Kanji Mastery."

[a] Calligraphic RF

It's a dog's world, depending on how you interpret that in the world of Chinese characters (漢字; kanji) and East Asian history. Radical ninety-four is "dog," and it figures in a bunch of characters having to do with various animalian qualities, as we shall see. The key to noticing this character-part (radical) is knowing when and where it is radical in the overall character. 

[b] New Yorkie RF

Sometimes it is featured on the right of the character, where we will find it in its "whole word" dictionary form (状, 獄, 獣, 献). Occasionally, it appears under a character part (獎). The vast majority of the time, though, it changes form and appears on the left-hand side (犯, 孤, 独, 猛, 猿, 獅, 狢). This beast changing forms is one of the biggest problems that Japanese language learners have as they enter their "intermediate" studies. The two faces of the dog (犬 and 犭) are "the same" in a dictionary sense. Start to notice it, and begin to see the copse for the sapplings, as well as the hair of the dog in a rich array of characters. It is not known whether a little egg in the diet will make the characters shinier.

[c] Mammalian RF

Etymology for 犬

Character Information for 犬

犬

Radical 94

Chinese (Mandarin): quan3
Chinese (Cantonese): hyun2

Japanese (On reading): ケン KEN
Japanese (Kun readings): いぬ inu
Korean: 개 

Selections from The New Nelson Japanese-English Character Dictionary.

犬 Radical 94

Inu  dog. At left: 犭—3 strokes kemono hen  left-hand "animal." Nickname: dog.

犬小屋　   いぬごや     　　inugoya        dog kennel                       (dog+small+abode)
犬死　　   いぬじ(に)  　　inuji(ni)          die in vain                        (dog+die)
犬泳ぎ　   いぬおよぎ 　　inuoyogi        dog paddle                       (dog+swim)
犬猫　　   いぬねこ     　　inuneko        cats and dogs                   (dog+cat)
犬合わせ　いぬあわせ　    inua(wase)    dog fight                           (dog+unite/link)

O.k., with the exception of "dog death," these are pretty straightforward, the way we usually begin in these Kanji Mastery posts. Let's take a look now at a few combinations that require at least one more imaginative step beyond the obvious (cats + dogs = cats and dogs).

犬侍　いぬざむらい inuzamurai     depraved samurai              (dog + samurai)
犬馬　けんば            kenba             my humble self                  (dog + horse)
犬猿　けんえん        ken'en             loggerheads, impasse       (dog + monkey)
犬儒　けんじゅ        kenju               a highbrow scholar            (dog + Confucian)
 
Let's wrap things up with a number of characters in which 犬 is "radical." You'll find it mostly on the left, but don't be tricked.

狂　キョウ                             KYOU                               lunatic; to go insane (狂する)
狡 　コウ, ずるい、こすい      KOU, zuru(i), kosu(i)                  crafty, cunning, sly
猥　ワイ, みだらな, みだりに  WAI, mida(ra)na, mida(ri) ni       licentious, lewd
獏　バク　　　　　　              BAKU                                         tapir
獣　ジュウ、けだもの、けもの　JYUU, kedamono, kemono    animal, beast

[d] Wild beast RF

 

Displays of Authenticity (8)—Canine Devotion

Click here for the introduction to the Round and Square series Displays of Authenticity.

[a] Loyalty RF

What could be more authentic than the loyalty of a dog? The Japanese text, above, can be translated as "Loyal Dog Hachiko." If you think about it (and countless people have), we have stories and phrases abounding in languages all over the world regarding this particularly hairy form of best friend. 

Those of you who follow the news closely and live in the United States might well already have guessed what led me to write on this topic. Some of what I have to say here is lighthearted, but most of it is just plain sad—in the most recent case in the news, terribly so.

There is something about dogs, though. Something.

[b] Hachiko RF

Adam Gopnik recently wrote on the subject of dogs and humans and life together in an article in The New Yorker. He raises several interesting questions about the way we talk about dogs and the ways in which we interact. Gopnik might very well question why I would put discussion of dogs under the topic "displays of authenticity." From a biological perspective, I can see the point. As someone interested in human culture and how we express it, though, all I can say is (Gopnik also leads us in this direction in his excellent essay) that our social "reading" of canine companionship is exactly the point. A whole bunch of us—human beings—identify dogs with loyalty and devotion, and authentic loyalty, at that.

When it comes to devotion, it is hard to beat the story of Hachiko, the Akita pup given to a Tokyo University professor in 1923. Today, Hachiko's statue sits outside the Shibuya Station, one of the major stops on the Yamanote Line that circles Tokyo. Every day, hundreds if not thousands of tourists from Japan and abroad go to Shibuya to pet the statue (which has been worn by decades of dog-loving hands). I made my first pilgrimage in 2002, and had been planning it for years before that.

[c] Devotion RF

Hachiko went with the old professor to the station every day and waited for him every evening. One day, the professor didn't return. You may read on, below:

Hachiko Wikipedia

Hachiko—Shibuya Station

The story rocked Japan, and then the world. It was eventually made into a movie about loyalty, devotion, and authenticity—first in Japan and then in Hollywood. This is the kind of story that has legs, as it were, and is transferable across many linguistic and cultural borders—not all of them, to be sure, but many.

Hachi: A Dog's Tale

A loyal dog waiting every evening for its owner until its own death nine years later is about as sad as it gets. The image in the news last month from Rockford, Iowa, though, can match it. This is not the place for analysis. I just can't get over how closely tied dogs and people are when we speak of devotion. We can say it is "cultural" all we want (and that, indeed, is saying something). It sure feels like there is something else—something authentic—going on, though.