When starting learning japanese it struck me as rather weird that 本, book,
seems to have totally different meanings in its kun- and on-yomi compounds (i.
e. 本気、基づく、本物）, all vaguely centered around the concept of originality, even 日本
"the land of the rising sun", as it seems to refer to the originating of the
sun in the east. Come to think of it, it's more likely that the meaning 本 was
later derived from this original abstract meaning (propably by the Japanese
since, I believe, chinese uses mainly 書 or its simplified equivalent for
books). Could anyone illuminate the etymology of 本?
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2016-07-03T16:45:08.913
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2016-07-04T02:17:44.273
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kanji etymology
How did 本 come to mean book?
According to [語源由来辞典「[本]{ほん}」](http://gogen-allguide.com/ho/hon.html), 本
original pictorial origin is the representation of the thick parts of the
roots of a tree. In 漢語 it came to mean "the roots of a thick tree" or "roots
of plants". In Japan it came to be used for the "model" writing over which
paper would be laid to make a copy of that writing. From that it eventually
came to refer to all books.
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2016-07-03T21:02:48.317
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answer