Why did the meaning of 想 change?

Hey @mods would you be so kind and explain what was the reason of ditching concept, idea and thought all together?

My take on it is something like this:

When you search online all the dictionaries, reference and kanji sites use concept as the first meaning. But let’s take a look at the vocabs 想 builds on wanikani -

Assumption 想定

Expectation 予想

Ideology 思想

Impressions 感想

Reminiscence 回想

To imagine 想像する

Fantasy 幻想

Pitiful 可哀想

Delusion 妄想

None of these words use the word concept in their english definition, not even one.

So why does all the sources use concept as the first go to option? My guess - most sites/apps just use the same resource as is. Jisho is not the origin of it’s content.

I think WaniKani stands in a unique position here, where they actually have enough data to support deviation from what those replicated sources suggest (iirc they also rely on the same resource for their source material)They also had to reevaluate it for themselves when they wrote the information. The fact that their content became so dynamic is quite admirable, because it means they understand that language is a living thing and translations are not set in stone.

This is so meta since kanji represent a concept not a word, that’s why it has so many meanings and guess which kanji doesn’t participate in 概念 ? 想 so much so that if you go to the wiki page of 概念 想 appears once and not in the explanation parts but in the related items as part of 発想 .

Also I bet when it comes to concept as a word, it is probably used as the loan word コンセプト more than any of it’s Japanese counterparts since it is such a specific word. I try to imagine what would you use it for beyond asking - what is the concept behind x,y,z or talking about conceptual art. Even when you talk about a concept you’re most likely start your explanation by saying - I imagined/ I thought about/ I was contemplating the. I conceptualized it as? Not likely, that’s part of the reason the use of concept as the main hook didn’t stick for the idea behind 想.

4 Likes