On 診 and 看

Coincidentally, I just received an email containing both kanji:

診 (SHIN, mi(ru): checkup; seeing; to diagnose, examine)

My friend used this word: 診てもらう (mite morau: to see a doctor). Here are other useful words with 診:

診断 (shindan: diagnosis)
     to examine + to conclude
脈を診る (myaku o miru: to take one’s pulse)
     pulse + to examine

The first kanji can mean “vein” or “pulse.”

検診 (kenshin: medical examination)
     to examine + to examine
診療 (shinryō: diagnosis and treatment)
     to diagnose + to treat

A spinoff: 診療所 (shinryōjo: clinic)
     to diagnose + to treat + place

本日休診 (Honjitsu Kyūshin: Office Closed Today
     this + day + suspension of business +
     to examine

This is a sign that doctors hang out when they want to hang out somewhere else!

看 (KAN, mi(ru): to watch, look after (often medically), take care of)

Here are words with the original meaning of “to watch, look, see, observe”:

看板 (kanban: signboard, sign)
     to see + board
看破 (kanpa: seeing through, penetrating, reading (another’s thoughts))
     to see + to penetrate
看取 (kanshu: perceiving)
     to observe + to gather

And here are words with a secondary meaning, “to care (for the sick), to keep a watchful eye on, to look after, to nurse”:

看護婦 (kangofu: nurse)
     to nurse + to protect + working woman

Nowadays 婦 most often means “adult woman.” The original meaning was “wife,” and back then, of course, wives didn’t work outside the home. This kanji has acquired an additional meaning: “working woman” or “career woman.” Quite the opposite of the original meaning! Unfortunately, Halpern only lists three words in which 婦 denotes a career woman: nurse, prostitute, and cleaning woman. Hmm….

看病する (kanbyō suru: to nurse, care for)
     to care for the sick + sickness
看守 (kanshu: jailer)
     to keep a watchful eye on + to watch over

Aha—when you say or write kanshu, be sure to distinguish between “perceiving” (看取) and “jailer” (看守)!

Back to On 視 …

Back to the Blog …