Today I confused 忙 with 忘 and now I can see why: they are made of same
radicals and yet they have different meanings. Is there a logical reason for
this?
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2016-03-28T22:04:02.343
33191
2016-03-29T10:34:27.603
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question
kanji etymology
About 忙 and 忘 using same radicals but having different meanings
The meanings are a bit related: when one is in _haste_ , one tends to _forget_
things.

But as for why the characters developed the way they did, you'll have to ask
someone with background knowledge of the Chinese characters themselves.

I do see that the reconstructed Old Chinese readings and researched Middle
Chinese readings aren't very far apart between the two characters:

  * 忙: " _flurried, hurried, in haste; to hasten, to hurry_ "  
Old Chinese reading: `/*mˁaŋ/`  
Middle Chinese reading: `mang`

  * 忘: " _to forget, to overlook_ "  
Old Chinese reading: `/*maŋ/`, `/*maŋs/`  
Middle Chinese reading: `mjang`, `mjang``H`

The similar semantics and similar phonetics could suggest a common root.
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2016-03-28T22:54:30.647
33192
2016-03-28T23:05:21.733
2016-03-28T23:05:21.733
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answer
The radical for both is 心. 忙,心死也。 It means the state of being busy is
equivalent as the heart(mind) being dead (not working in an intelligent way),
which is what is commonly understood as the poor man's ADHD, the short
sightedness caused by being materialistically deficient. 忘 is also
亡心。Forgetting something would be similar as things dying off in the mind which
would be equivalent to forgetting.
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2016-03-29T10:34:27.603
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2016-03-29T10:34:27.603
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answer