it seems to me like despite this 各 radical existing, we have a kanji like 客 whose mnemonic actually relies on roof + winter + mouth instead of kiss.
is that a conscious choice? because i think it’s quite confusing that we have these “meta-radicals” that are actually composed of simpler radicals, but then - in cases where these “meta-radicals” clearly seem to play a part – you still sometimes choose to pretend as if they don’t.
this isn’t the only example of this.
it also means, by the way, that this radical would not have 客 in the list of kanji it appears in, which seems misleading…?
(This is just a hunch) Because Koichi doesn’t use the “official” radicals, I recon he picks whatever combination is easiest for him to make a story out of.
In this example- you don’t kiss every guest under your roof (unless that’s your establishments thing). However if you have a guest during the winter, you’ll for sure be feeding or chatting to them under your roof.
But, if it’s easier to remember giving a little cheek kiss to a guest, I imagine it wouldn’t hurt to write that for yourself in the notes section (just remembering that it often refers to customers might be a bit hard if this gets too stuck in your head)
that’s not a problem, the problem is the conflicting usage of multiple meanings of the radicals and the “sub-radicals” (or “meta-radicals” or “super-radicals” or whatever you want to call them)
i was reviewing 客 - and was trying to remember what the hell is “kiss under roof” and what mnemonic it’s related to.
once i recognize the radical as 各=kiss it’s hard for me to see it as something else.
if “kiss” is so specific, maybe a different meaning for the radical can be picked which would be better suited for the majority (or all) the kanji where it’s used.
in other words, the problem is not the fact that it’s a “custom" meaning not found elsewhere, the problem is the confusing alternating interpretation where お客 is not thought to have “各” as a radical in wanikani…
i think consistency is more important than the “elegance” of the mnemonics.
almost any surreal situation can be conjured as a mnemonic for every single thing — the main question is whether the thing you’re looking at can reliably remind you of that mnemonic.
and yes, I did utilize the “kiss” in the end to memorize it, as you can see in this example here:
Hmm I get what you mean, honestly, ive gotten to a point where the default radical meanings don’t mean much to me anymore.
After lvl 10 when I was stuck on a kanji, I sorta just picked what radicals or embedded kanjis that jumped out at me and made my own story. Once I hit lvl 20 though ive needed to physically write them out and sorta chant the meaning and reading in my head … the levels I haven’t done that I’ve spent nearly a month on!
Personally I think the 各 radical should just be “each”, but that’s an opinion I have very little basis for lol! The “super radicals” are (most of the time) just Kanji. WK has just made new names to suit their stories for certain kanji.The more relatable and cohesive the story, the more memorable in my opinion. The surreal/ nonsensical ones are forgotten immediately for me, and I feel there are a few😅… it’s a classic case of a good thing working great sometimes but in other situations it just makes things more confusing!
But hey! 客 might stick better now that you’ve talked about it! Having a good complain on the WK forum works wonders for memory I’ve found
(just remembering that it often refers to customers might be a bit hard if this gets too stuck in your head)
… the levels I haven’t done that I’ve spent nearly a month on!