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Last week, you may have felt increasingly certain that 追 (TSUI, o(u)) is all about the chase. But the kanji gods tend to read confidence as hubris, and they respond by throwing curve balls. This character has two other main meanings.
Additionally, 追 Means “Additional”
The kanji 追 also means “to add” or “additional.” That helps us make more sense of 追加, which appeared in the first paragraph of last week’s entry:
追加 (tsuika: addition) addition + addition
The kanji 加 can stand for Canada. So if you didn’t know the appropriate breakdowns here, you might think 追加 referred to driving someone into Canada … or chasing away Canadians … or viewing Canada as a mere addition (i.e., annex) to the United States. (Ooh, I bet that made some Canadian blood boil! Or is it too cold up there for that?)
The sense of “additional” also informs the next word (which might otherwise be misunderstood as “pursuing and boiling” someone):
追い炊き (oidaki: to boil additional rice)
additional + to cook, boil
We represent additional thoughts in postscripts, so it’s logical that 追 makes a showing in various words for “postscript” or “P.S.” More on that in P.S. (a side page that’s like a postscript … or maybe I should say “sidescript” …).
Remembrance of Times Past
Three’s the charm. Along with “to chase” and “additional,” 追 can mean “to remember the dead, to mourn.” That’s true in three 追 words that have identical meanings:
追想 (tsuisō: recollection, reminiscence)
to remember the dead + idea
追懐 (tsuikai: recollection, reminiscence, remembrance)
to remember the dead + to miss someone
追憶 (tsuioku: recollection, reminiscence)
to remember the dead + recollection
Final Revenge of the Kanji Gods
Here’s one last area in which the kanji gods have us (or at least me) at their mercy:
追分 (oiwake: forked road, parting of the ways, packhorse driver’s song) to follow + to divide
It’s a small issue in the scheme of things, but I can’t figure out how to define the 追 of 追分. I want to say that this 追 means “to remember the dead,” because “forked road,” “parting of the ways,” and “packhorse driver’s song” all sound terribly sad. But these definitions really don’t have anything to do with remembering the dead. Plus, Halpern says that the kun-yomi o(u) only means “to chase, to pursue, to follow” (whereas the on-yomi TSUI might have any of the meanings we’ve explored thus far). But how can “to chase, to pursue, to follow” relate to the definitions of 追分? Chasing away sad thoughts???
All I know is that oiwake sounds like a yodeler’s lament in Yiddish. And “packhorse driver’s song” brings to mind mournful Texan tunes about lost love. When Yiddish and Japanese start to blend with a Texas twang, it’s time for a Verbal Logic Quiz!
