命 versus 令

Japanese Language Kanji
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So I’ve struggled for some time to remember the difference between 命 and 令 so I managed to come up with something to help…

命 is fate because you never discovered the fate of the OP.

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Maybe try to remember 命令 めいれい?

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Sure - it’s just to remember which one is めい and which one is れい.

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If it helps, 令 is a phonetic component that is generally read as れい. For example, 冷, 齢, and 零 are all also read as れい. I can’t help much with the meaning, but hopefully this helps you remember the reading.

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Holy shit. That’s helpful. Thank you!!

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I wonder is there a compendium of phonetic kanji?

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There’s a script for that somewhere, but I can’t link to it right now because I’m on mobile.(It’s also not installed where I do most of my lessons…)

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Here’s the script I use.

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I mean an actual dictionary.

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Can’t help you there.

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You can the script maker what their sources were.

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If you don’t mind raw data, there’s an open data set here for kanji decomposition:

http://nihongo.monash.edu//kradinf.html

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There are Japanese dictionaries, sure. But you need to remember that many, if not most of the phonetic series are not 100%. I’d suggest reading this: https://namakajiri.net/nikki/testing-the-power-of-phonetic-components-in-japanese-kanji/

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Yeah, I’ve had it in mind to have a go at processing the data I linked earlier to see how strong those phonetic series are. The EDRDG has all the data needed I think - just need some time and motivation…

EDIT: Ah, the link you provided did just that.

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I remember 命 with Mei’s legendary skin from Overwatch. Her goggles and hat look sorta like the kanji with the reading “mei”:

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I remember inochi 命, destiny.

For 令, I remember めいれい.

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to me 令 looks like medieval sign post with a long list pinned to it, like this image

and on it REI (seen below) has posted a long list of ORDERS by which to live one’s LIFE.

image

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Yeah, me too :stuck_out_tongue:

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So after this thread, I think that 命 and 令 are completely distinct in my mind now.

Thanks everyone!

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