土

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soil

On-Yomi: ド、ト — Kun-Yomi: つち

Elements:

soil, dirt, ground

Heisig story:

I don't like it any more than you do, but this kanji is not the pictograph it is trumped up to be: a mound of soil piled on the ground. All I can recommend is that you memorize it as it is. Anyway, it will be occurring with such frequency that you have almost no chance of forgetting it, even if you try.

Heisig comment:

* As a primitive, the sense of soil is extended to that of ground because of its connection with the kanji for the same (Frame 554). From there it also takes the added meanings of dirt and land.

Koohii stories:

1) [mparrett1] 18-6-2006(87): Remembering soil is easy. If soil is soft, you can take a walking stick and plunge it two* feet into the ground.

2) [stereovibe] 11-3-2008(32): The grave was marked by a cross sticking out of the soil.

3) [Gendal] 9-2-2009(24): Soil is neither positive nor negative.

4) [skeeter3] 15-8-2007(19): King Arthur pulled the magical sword Excalibur out of the hardened soil to claim his place as king.

5) [TerryS] 27-11-2008(7): I tried to stick a needle in the ground but it wouldn't go through the hard SOIL.

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