蝸
snail
Readings
On'yomi
- カ
Kun'yomi
- かたつむり
Meaning
蝸 centers on the snail, a small creature with a spiral shell. The meaning is specific and concrete, with no major abstract extensions.
Most common words using 蝸
- 蝸牛かたつむり
snail
- 三条蝸牛みすじまいまい
Euhadra peliomphala (species of land snail)
- 前庭蝸牛神経ぜんていかぎゅうしんけい
vestibulocochlear nerve
- 蝸廬かろ
little house; my humble home
- 蝸牛かぎゅう
snail
- 蝸牛殻かぎゅうかく
cochlea
- 蝸牛神経かぎゅうしんけい
cochlear nerve
- 蝸牛管かぎゅうかん
cochlear duct
- 蝸牛角上かぎゅうかくじょう
trifling (fight); (a conflict) between small countries
- 蝸牛角上の争いかぎゅうかくじょうのあらそい
fighting over nothing; making a mountain out of a molehill
- 蝸角かかく
eyestalk (on a snail)
- 蝸角の争いかかくのあらそい
fighting over nothing; making a mountain out of a molehill
Study
Etymology
蝸 combines 虫 (insect/creature) with 咼, which likely contributes the sound. The character was created to represent a snail, a small creature with a shell.
Meaning mnemonic
The left side 虫 is the insect/creature radical, and the right side 咼 looks like a spiral shell with a mouth-like opening. Picture a snail with its shell on the right and its soft body on the left.
Reading mnemonic
For カ, imagine a snail slowly crawling across a car: car -> カ, and the snail leaves a slimy trail on the vehicle.