Thursday, February 14, 2008

否 - DENYING with your Mouth


Readings & Meanings:

いな



no, denial

Common Usage:

賛否両論



否定

Examples:

賛否両論で結論が出なかった。

「否!」と彼は叫んで刀をつかんだ。

法廷で彼は妻を殺した事を否定した。

Translations:

From the pros and cons, we could not get a conclusion.

"No!" he said as he grabbed his sword.

In the courtroom, he denied killing his wife.

Bonus:

否 for "no" is a samurai word, kind of old. You might hear it in samurai movies, but then again, as it's typically spat out in a rush, you might not catch it.

Radical:

不 is straight from China; it negates over there, too. Add 不 to a word and you negate it. 不便 is the opposite of 便利.

口 is mouth.

So when you negate with your mouth, you say .

References:

http://www.thejapanesepage.com/kanji/kanji/u.htm

No comments: