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What the example of "KEN - " shows

Kanji Readings(s) Meaning
Sino-Japanese Japanese
KEN the hand gathering two stalks of grain.
REN kama ickle, scythe..
KEN, GEN iya, kira(i) to dislike, detest, disgust.
REN cheap, pure, noble.
KEN humble, modest.

For the general meaning, two - i.e. several - ears in the hand evokes what is combined, accumulated, harvested. Note in particular the way 謙 express the humility, the modesty. A farmer speaks about his crop. Since time immemorial he has done it humbly, because otherwise it will be taxes, looting…

For the "logical" Westerners, it is more interesting - and effective - to discover and to learn Kanji by their meaning rather than by copying out them one thousand times (as it is done in the traditional teachings) without analyzing their contents.

For the Sino-Japanese readings, two members of the family (嫌 and 謙) have preserved the reading of their basic phonetic.The sound of the other two is very close as as it has only evolved from KEN to REN.

"KEN" is obviously a "serious" family, where rules were preserved. There are numerous families in this case:

, HI-HA , HŌ-BŌ , HŌ , I , KA , SHI , SHŌ , SŌ ...

Roughly, half of the 2143 Kanji in common use fall analytical approach in the strict sense of the term: Sino- Japanese reading preserved and meaning justified by the combination of "key + the general meaning of the basic phonetic". The other half will require more imagination.

To review in detail the example of the "family KEN - 兼", click or press on the link Phonetic Primitive. You can also see another example : that of the "JI 寺" family Phonetic JI - 寺".