The Discovery of Genesis (12 page)

The formation of more complex radicals or characters by combining radicals is next demonstrated in a simple way. By using the basic symbol
for
man
, many new words were developed. Add to the
man
radical a horizontal stroke,
one
, so that it looks like a man with arms outstretched,
, and the word become an ideographic radical with the suggestion of being
great, big, tall
, or in reference to man,
noble, high in rank, or full grown.
When a man grows old, he uses a cane, as if three-legged. The character then is written
and carries the superlative meaning of
very, much, too, or excessive.

When a man is grown and married, he is pictured as having a second person with him. Literally he is “
two
men
” and no longer single. A
husband
is therefore depicted as
. In the Orient, when the husband loses his wife by death, he grows a beard or moustache for several months as a sign of mourning. The word
husband
may also show a “mourning badge” as
demonstrates a small stroke added to the left. This alteration forms an ideogram signifying
to lose.
Since the small stroke is attached to the upper “second” man of
husband
, it indicates the
loss
or cancellation of
one.