象しょう

noun

form; shape; appearance

A Sino-Japanese noun or bound element referring to form, shape, or outward appearance. It is not the normal everyday standalone word for shape; compounds such as 象形 show this use more clearly.

• 「象しょう形けい文も字じ」は、物ものの形かたちをかたどった文も字じを指さす。

  Shōkei moji refers to characters that are modeled on the shapes of things.

noun

phenomenon; appearance in the world

Used as the しょう element in words and expressions connected with phenomena or things that appear, such as 現象 and 万象. This is more abstract and formal than ordinary words like こと or もの.

• 地じ震しんや台たい風ふうは自し然ぜん現げん象しょうの一ひとつだ。

  Earthquakes and typhoons are kinds of natural phenomena.

• 森しん羅ら万ばん象しょうは絶たえず変へん化かしている。

  All things in the universe are constantly changing.