曰
say, reason, pretext, history, past, flat sun radical (no. 73)
Strokes4
Readings
On'yomi
- エツ
Kun'yomi
- いわ.く
- のたま.う
- のたま.わく
- ここに
Meaning
曰 centers on spoken expression: saying something, giving a reason, or offering a pretext. Its extended uses for history and the past come from the idea of things that have been said or recorded.
Most common words using 曰
Study
Etymology
曰 is a pictograph of a mouth with a line inside, representing speech or something said. The modern form preserves this basic shape.
Meaning mnemonic
The wide open shape looks like a mouth with a tongue or words inside: 曰 is a mouth saying something.
Reading mnemonic
For エツ, imagine an editor (エディター) saying 'yes' to a story: the 'e' from editor and the 'tsu' from 'yes' blend into エツ, as the editor speaks the final word.