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Kotomora

馛

fragrance, fragrant

Strokes14

Readings

On'yomi

  • ハツ
  • バチ
  • ヘツ
  • ヘチ

Kun'yomi

  • にお.い
  • こうば.しい

Meaning

馛 centers on a pleasant, sweet smell: something fragrant or aromatic. The meanings "fragrance" and "fragrant" are two sides of the same idea—the quality and the thing that has it.

Study

Etymology

馛 combines 香 (fragrance) with 犮, which likely contributes the sound. The character is a phono-semantic compound where the left side gives the meaning and the right side hints at the pronunciation.

Meaning mnemonic

The left side 香 means fragrance or incense. The right side 犮 looks like a person waving something aromatic. Imagine someone fanning a cloud of sweet incense smoke: 馛 is the fragrance that spreads.

Reading mnemonic

For ハツ, picture a hot, fragrant dish that makes you say "HOT!" when you smell it: HOT -> ハツ, and the steam carries the scent.