Name

by Nao

na, mei, myō

Namae means name. They look confusing but have different sound. In a daily conversation, you can ask somebody’s name by saying, “onamae wa?” We add “o” before “namae” to make it sound polite.

One’s real name is honmyō. If you have a pseudonym or an alias, your real name is honmyō. A pseudonym may be geimei (a stage name). Gei means art. An alias is gimei. Gi means fake.

Yūmei means well-known while mumei means not known. “Yū” means to exist.

To name somebody is the verb “nazukeru.” A godparent is “nazukeoya.” Zuke is derived from the verb “tsukeru” meaning to put. Oya means a parent.

Since this character means nominal things, it can be contrasted with “jitsu,” which means actual things. Very practical people take actual rewards rather than fame. Such a preference is described as “na yori jitsu wo toru.”  “A yori B wo toru” means that you take B rather than A.

1. Draw the sweeping stroke from the top.
2. Draw the hook. The sweeping part is parallel to the first stroke.
3. Draw the dot between the sweeping strokes.
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.