者
← →
someone
On-Yomi: シャ — Kun-Yomi: もの
Elements:
someone, puppet, sooty, old man, sun, day
Heisig story:
Old man . . . sun. This key word looks to be difficult because of its proximity to somebody. In fact, it is a very common kanji that will cause you no difficulty at all. Its meaning should be seen as the human referent for the abstract noun "something."
Heisig comment:
* As a primitive it means a puppet-on-a-string.
Koohii stories:
1) [Shizuru] 24-8-2007(196): I find the best way of memorizing this kanji is in conjunction with the Japanese compound for ninja: 忍者 – i.e. someone who endures (see FRAME 597 for the kanji 忍 ). A 忍者 is not just a 身 (somebody), it's 者 who can 忍 great 拷 !
2) [aircawn] 20-1-2007(72): Back in the day, the old man used to be someone. His name was in the papers and all that. I use CHUCKY from the movie Child's Play as my major alternate meaning for this primitive.
3) [gavmck] 25-11-2009(42): An old man is someone who has seen many days.
4) [smithsonian] 14-3-2007(32): The old man who desperately wanted a son (sun) was Gepetto. He just wanted someone to love. As a primitive, this character will mean Pinocchio.
5) [Virtua_Leaf] 12-9-2009(18): [aircawn] Back in the day, the old man used to be someone. He was famous for being the world's number one puppet manufacturer. (let the "one" be your way to differentiate this between the kanji for 'somebody').