What were the trains called before they were electric?

[IgorTheGreat]

So was the ‘車’ kanji created for cars and locomotives or did it previously have another meaning? Was it repurposed from meaning wagon or carriage?

[Leebo]

It’s a pictogram of a carriage as seen from above. But it would have been impressive if they had predicted trains and cars in 1000 BC or whatever

[IgorTheGreat]

haha yes it would have! I know kanji have changed since then though. I wonder if some kanji have been repurposed from completely different meanings that are no longer relevant?

[Leebo]

Sure that happens in loads of ways. 北 currently means “north,” of course, but it’s an ideogram depicting two people standing back to back. It originally meant “back” (like the part of the body) and then was also extended to meaning “move away.”

The word for north in Chinese sounded the same as the word for back, and people would just use 北 to mean north. Eventually the north meaning took over to such an extent that a new kanji was developed for “back,” incorporating the traditional element for body parts. It’s 背.

The metaphorical “move away” meaning of 北 can still be seen in some compounds though, like 敗北 (defeat).

[IgorTheGreat]

wow that’s so interesting!

[KinokoNeko]

@Blaveloper

I doubt that learning 汽車 will be of any use perhaps unless you plan on visiting a train museum.

I’ve visited rural areas in Japan where diesel trains are still used and I’ve heard them referred to as 汽車 before, so it’s definitely still applicable to life in Japan in some places.

[Okanekure]

@KinokoNeko

@Blaveloper

I doubt that learning 汽車 will be of any use perhaps unless you plan on visiting a train museum.

I’ve visited rural areas in Japan where diesel trains are still used and I’ve heard them referred to as 汽車 before, so it’s definitely still applicable to life in Japan in some places.

I can concur. I lived in rural Japan and 汽車 is very much commonly used.

[Saida]

Or if you’re watching Thomas the Tank Engine in Japanese. It was sdapted from 汽車のえほん.

Oh no, yet another train word! They call him きかんしゃトーマス. I think it’s 機関車. I also see 蒸気機関車 in the wikipedia article.

きかんしゃトーマス「トーマスのはやおき（オリジナルver.)」

[DarkToLight]

Now it makes sense, thanks!

Edit for @KinokoNeko and @Okanekure, because this forum didn’t show me your replies at first for whatever reason.

I too have been in the rural area a couple of times, although in the Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, and Hokkaido prefectures.
I can’t recall 汽車 to be used anywhere.
Maybe I was in the wrong rural Japan?