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Kotomora

殍

dying of starvation

Strokes11

Readings

On'yomi

  • ヒョウ
  • フ

Kun'yomi

  • うえじに

Meaning

殍 centers on death from extreme hunger: dying of starvation. It is a specific and grim concept with no broader abstract extensions.

Study

Etymology

殍 combines 歹 (death) with 孚, which likely contributes the sound. The character specifically denotes death by starvation.

Meaning mnemonic

The death radical 歹 beside 孚 suggests a life fading away. Picture a person so starved that even the small child-like shape 子 inside 孚 has withered, leaving only death.

Reading mnemonic

For ヒョウ, imagine a starving person seeing a floating hyōtan (ひょうたん, gourd) that could save them, but it's just out of reach: hyō -> ヒョウ, and the hunger leads to death.