爪

---

← →

claw

On-Yomi: ソウ — Kun-Yomi: つめ、つま-

Elements:

claw, vulture

Heisig story:

This character is a pictograph of a bird's claw, and from there comes to mean animal claws in general (including human fingernails).

Heisig comment:

* As a primitive, we shall use the graphic image of a vulture, a bird known for its powerful claws. It generally appears above another primitive, in which case it gets squeezed into the form ⺥.

Koohii stories:

1) [chamcham] 29-4-2007(215): A pictograph of Wolverine's adamantium claws.

2) [fuaburisu] 10-10-2005(54): Pictograph, see book. * I prefer the primitive meaning of an eagle rather than vulture. Somehow vulture makes me think more about meat and dead corpses than claws. An eagle however immediately brings to my mind the image of an eagle plunging into a stream catching fish in his claws, or that of the great eagles rescuing Bilbo and his party in Jrr Tolkien's novel “Bilbo the Hobbit”.

3) [Nukemarine] 16-8-2007(18): Pictograph of a vulture's CLAW. The CLAW DROPS and leaves a STREAM of blood. *Primitive = vulture.

4) [PepeSeco] 25-1-2008(13): Use the "w" in claw to remember the shape of this kanji.

5) [meredithcat] 26-2-2010(5): A claw.

---