• ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml
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    5 days ago

    That little top part (冎) is the how it was originally drawn. It’s supposed to look like a bone. It’s more pronounced in the earlier drawings.

    The bottom part (which is the kanji for moon and month) as a radical often means something like “flesh”, and is present in the kanji for body parts.

    So I don’t think the whole thing was intended to be the pictograph of a skellington, or at least can’t say for sure.

    • AlfalFaFail@lemmy.ml
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      5 days ago

      So one the unique things about 月 is it contains several other character depending the context. In this case, 月 represents 肉 or flesh. My interpretation of the character is the bones that suspends flesh.

      Here’s more context specific transformations of 月 in other characters