Toward or Yonder

by Nao

mu-kau, mu-ku, mu-keru, mu-kou, mu-kai, mu-ki, kō

Two basic meanings of this character are toward and yonder. We can divide the above readings into two groups according to the meanings. (The suffixes, -kau, -ku, -keru, -kou, -kai and –ki, are in hiragana. They are called okurigana. In the first line of each entry are readings, by the way. Hyphens are added to indicate okurigana. )

Toward

The verb mu-kau means “to go toward.” The verb mu-ku means either to turn one’s face toward or to be fit for somebody. The noun mu-ki (muki) derived from mu-ku means a direction or one’s advantage. For the latter sense, we have the opposite word, fumuki, meaning one’s disadvantage. Everybody has “muki fumuki” (strong points and weak points).

The verb mu-keru means “to make something or somebody face” or “to direct something.”

Compounds related to this meaning are hōkō (a direction), dōkō (a trend), and kōjō (progress).

Yonder

The noun mu-kou means “over there.” If you want to make it precisely adverbial, add the particle “e” or “ni” after the word. In a strict sense, mu-kou means that place or the other side.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke.
2. Draw the vertical stroke on the left-hand side.
3. Draw the hook with an upward turn.
4. Draw the left side of the rectangle.
5. Draw the upper and right sides of the rectangle.
6. Draw the lower side of the rectangle.