賢 - WISE in the Ways of Slaves and Shellfish

Readings & Meanings:

かしこ（い）

ケン

wise, clever, smart

Common Usage:

賢い

ずる賢い

賢明

賢人

Examples:

彼は賢い子供だが、時々ずる賢くもある。

彼はB大学に行かずにA大学に行く事に決めた。賢明な選択だ。

地元の賢人をたたえて、銅像を立てた。

Translations:

He is a very smart child, but also very cunning and street-smart.

He decided to go to College A and not College B. A wise choice.

We establish this bronze statue in memory of the local wise man.

Radical:

貝, Kai-hen, is our radical here.

臤 is our phonetic.

臣 is a pictograph of an eye looking down at the ground (suggesting a slave or servility). 又 is a hand, or, an action indicator. Unfortunately, breaking 臤 apart will do little to help us understand it, because its meaning of "wise" is borrowed and has nothing to do with its components.

I guess the addition of 貝 indicates a shrewdness on par with top economists...?

Bonus:



References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/ka.htm