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Re:Japanese writing system basics by euske on Saturday August 20, 2016 @04:11AM (#12325692)
Yeah yeah, this all makes sense until you see 品, which isn't "a three-mouthed monster" but "goods".

Languages are weird, man.

Re:Japanese writing system basics by artichokeheart on Saturday August 20, 2016 @07:01AM (#12326030)
I wOUld agree with you if it weren't for the wOUnd I have where a bOUlder pOUnded me in the head, so I don't have the cOUrage.
Re:Japanese writing system basics by igravious on Saturday August 20, 2016 @09:10AM (#12326419)
I see what yOU did there.
Re:Japanese writing system basics by ju-st on Saturday August 20, 2016 @06:20AM (#12325948)
I interpret that character as "three boxes" so "goods" is a very intuitive translation :)
Re:Japanese writing system basics by throwanem on Saturday August 20, 2016 @09:14AM (#12326437)
Yeah, I'm not sure what world you have to live in for "three-mouthed monster" to be a more obvious meaning for that glyph than "stacked crates".

But I think I might like to visit.

Re:Japanese writing system basics by cheiVia0 on Saturday August 20, 2016 @02:07PM (#12327661)
I see you haven't gotten to the 4th paragraph of TFA...

"口" = mouth, not crate

"品" is a stack of mouth characters

Re:Japanese writing system basics by throwanem on Saturday August 20, 2016 @02:35PM (#12327785)
I read the whole article, thanks. Do you think it's possible that more than one square or rectangular thing may exist?
Re:Japanese writing system basics by comex on Saturday August 20, 2016 @04:22PM (#12328166)
According to kanjinetworks.com that is, in fact, what the etymology boils down to:

> Square-shaped object (tripled) → high-quality goods spread throughout a protective container (compare 舗 and 販) → quality; counter for goods; (person's) character; grade; value.

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/eng/kanji-dictionary/online-kan...

Re:Japanese writing system basics by jimworm on Saturday August 20, 2016 @05:48AM (#12325886)
Out of the several uses of 品, one is the verb "taste" which makes slightly more sense.
Re:Japanese writing system basics by dboreham on Saturday August 20, 2016 @10:47AM (#12326830)
Whoa! I know that one -- it is "Shinagawa". I know this because my hotel was at that train station in Tokyo on a trip in the early 90's, long before signage in English was common in Japan..
Re:Japanese writing system basics by adsofhoads on Saturday August 20, 2016 @11:04AM (#12326896)
It's actually just the "shina". The "gawa" is 川, river.
Re:Japanese writing system basics by Tharkun on Saturday August 20, 2016 @12:10PM (#12327155)
You need a lot of goods to feed many mouths.

Two or three of something is a pretty common pattern in kanji. Two basically implies "several", while three implies "a fuckton". Two suns, for instance, is "bright". Three suns is a sparkling crystal.

Re:Japanese writing system basics by cooper12 on Saturday August 20, 2016 @09:09AM (#12326411)
You might enjoy (and probably have already seen) "Why Japanese People": https://youtu.be/AqragQq63Js