What’s the crazy-looking kanji leading off 窮追 (kyūtsui: to drive into a corner, to go to extremes + to pursue)? Here it is again at a scale we can actually see:
窮
We encountered 窮 ever so briefly last week in this context:
窮迫 (kyūhaku: straitened circumstances, distress)
to be in extremity, to be in distress + to force
But at that time I explained nothing, telling you to wait till this week! So now I’ve sent you into one of those dictionary loops:
X: see Y.
Y: see X.
Sorry about that! Anyway, here’s the deal:
窮 (KYŪ, kiwa(meru): hard up, destitute, to suffer, perplexed, cornered)
Henshall says this kanji combines “hole” (穴) with a pregnant woman’s body (now simplified to 身) and a “bow” (弓), which represents “pulling” or “distorting” here. Together, he says, these parts refer to “uncomfortable quarters in the extreme innermost part of a primitive dwelling”!
The kanji 窮 shows up in the following compounds:
窮地 (kyūchi: dilemma)
to be in extremity + one’s position
窮屈 (kyūkutsu: constraint)
to be in extremity + to be cramped
窮境 (kyūkyō: predicament)
to be in extremity + situation
窮極 (kyūkyoku: apex, the greatest extreme, the ultimate)
to go to extremes + extreme
In 窮極, what’s with the crazy-looking kanji in second position? For more on that, follow me to the next link.
Try saying the last three compounds as a string: kyūkutsu, kyūkyō, kyūkyoku. Can you?!
