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Today we’ll start with a Verbal Logic Quiz! But first, consider this compound:
郷土 (kyōdo: native place; birthplace; old home) village + soil
If you come from Kyoto, you’re lucky, because you can say this:
京都は郷土だ。
Kyōto wa kyōdo da.
My hometown is Kyoto.
OK, now you’re ready for the quiz!
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Quiz 1: If-Then
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When it comes to 郷土, you likely know the common kanji 土 (DO, tsuchi: soil). It shows up in 土曜日 (doyōbi: Saturday, Saturday + day of the week + day), where it has acquired the meaning of “Saturday.” But 郷 is quite a bit more unusual. Here’s the dirt on this kanji:
郷 (KYŌ, GŌ, sato: (1) village; (2) countryside; country)
Double Trouble and Lots of Elitism …
As you may recall, we’re considering 郷 today because it popped up in the haiku we saw last week:
夜桜やうらわかき月本郷に
Yozakura ya urawakaki tsuki hongō niCherry blossoms at dusk.
A crescent moon
over the youthful Hongō.
As you may also know, this haiku appeared on the gorgeous haiku calendar that Alberto Sanz created for his wife. Alberto has kindly provided detailed background information that helps us understand the haiku in a much more profound way. For that information and much more, please see the link.
In fact, please see all the links! For some reason, today’s content is almost entirely tucked off to the side. Perhaps that’s fitting, since we’re focusing partially on haiku; those poems contain hidden meanings and references to things “off to the side.”
We’ll finish with another Verbal Logic Quiz for which I’ll provide clues but no answers. As with the contest we just held, this is a competition! Those with the highest scores will attain instant celebrity; I’ll publish their names in the April 24 blog. We’ll see if fame is enough of a carrot … or whether material goods (such as free copies of Crazy for Kanji) are the only incentives that inspire JPodjin to work hard!
