The original Chinese character "嵐" meant "mountain mist", the radical "山" lends the meaning of "mountain", whereas "風" was used as a phonetic component and had no relations with wind.
In Japenese, the word "あらし(arashi)", which means "wind from the mountains", existed before kanji was introduced to Japan. When people saw the kanji "嵐" they probably associated it with the word "あらし(arashi)" due to the literal reading of the parts. This kanji was also not the only candidate for the word but became the mainstream one.
The original Chinese character "嵐" meant "mountain mist", the radical "山" lends the meaning of "mountain", whereas "風" was used as a phonetic component and had no relations with wind.
In Japenese, the word "あらし(arashi)", which means "wind from the mountains", existed before kanji was introduced to Japan. When people saw the kanji "嵐" they probably associated it with the word "あらし(arashi)" due to the literal reading of the parts. This kanji was also not the only candidate for the word but became the mainstream one.
Is that so? I knew it was imported like most Kanji, but I used to think arashi means "storm" or something. Guess I need to pick up the textbooks again.
Is that so? I knew it was imported like most Kanji, but I used to think arashi means "storm" or something. Guess I need to pick up the textbooks again.
It does mean "storm", both in the literal (weather phenomenon) and figurative ("agitation", "commotion", "shake-up", etc.) sense, but the etymology of the word is derived from "wind from the mountains", making it related to 颪.
It does mean "storm", both in the literal (weather phenomenon) and figurative ("agitation", "commotion", "shake-up", etc.) sense, but the etymology of the word is derived from "wind from the mountains", making it related to 颪.
This kind of confusion really happened inside IJN. The mail addressed to Yamakaze was wrongly delivered to Arashi quite often, and vice versa.
What is funnier is that both ships are linked to USS Nautilus (SS-168). Yamakaze was sunk by said submarine while Arashi was attacking said submarine at the Battle of Midway and spotted by the SDB divebombers after failing to sink it and returning to the main fleet. The rest of the story is obvious.
Understood!YamakazeIt's this one!ArashiYamakaze is written "山風" but when superimposing the two kanjis (especially when written vertically), we'll get Arashi "嵐" instead.