30679
The character, 體 (tai) which I think loosly means entity looks different than
the what I have noticed in other characters. In particular, the radical on the
left looks strange. I tried to find it on the internet, but I couldn't find
anything about the etymology. Does anyone else know?
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-22T13:57:30.233
30622
2018-08-20T13:37:42.913
10377
question
kanji etymology
Origin of this character: 體
體 is the old traditional-Chinese spelling (旧字体【きゅうじたい】) of modern simplified
spelling (新字体【しんじたい】) 体.

The radical of the older form is 骨, "bone".

More information about the character is available on Wiktionary:

[https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/體](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E9%AB%94)
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-22T20:29:53.077
30638
2016-01-22T20:29:53.077
5229
30622
answer
The character of 體 (today 体 in 当用漢字) meaning the body is composed of the
characters of 骨 meaning human and creatures’ bones on the left side and 豊
meaning rich on the right side.

According to「常用字解」compiled by the great scholar, Chinese character / language
etymologist, 白川静 and published by 平凡社, the letter of 骨 features the shape of
the bones above the sternum with the fresh meat attached to as its origin
(p.211). The letter of 豊 features 豆 shaping a jar with high legs full of
millet, thus symbolizing abundance and fertility (p.585).

In ancient China, 體 meant the body of animal for an offer for sacrifice to the
Heavenly God, and later came to mean human body (p.415).
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-01-24T07:24:36.947
30679
2016-01-24T09:51:50.260
2016-01-24T09:51:50.260
12056
12056
30622
answer
In Japanese,「豊」is a merger of two unrelated but graphically similar
characters:「豊」and「豐」. Only「豐」means _abundance_ ;「豊」was the original character
for「禮」(Shinjitai:「礼」), meaning _courtesy/etiquette_.「豊」does **not** contribute
meaning towards「體」.

「體」(Baxter-Sagart OC: /*r̥ˤijʔ/) is comprised of semantic「骨」and
phonetic「豊」(Baxter-Sagart OC: /*[r]ˤijʔ/).

In Ancient Chinese,「體」meant _limbs_. Quote from
[_Analects_](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Analects):

> 四體不{{ko:勤}}，五{{ko:穀}}不分。
>
> _If the four limbs aren't diligent, the five grains won't be ready for
> harvest._
CC BY-SA 4.0
2018-08-20T13:23:06.883
60983
2018-08-20T13:37:42.913
2018-08-20T13:37:42.913
26510
26510
30622
answer