I've found that when it comes to Kanji that have similar meanings and no matter what I do to try to tell them apart i.e. change my story etc, and still get them mixed up after a while of them showing up in the SRS they eventually just seem to click and I don't get them mixed up any more granted this could be because of the repetition of seeing them and getting them wrong but its worked for many of the similar Kanji

Ok, I think I finally figured out a small mnemonic to figure out how to distinguish between likeness and resemblance. I know I can't post the Hseig story up, but my recommendation is to use a different story than what Hseig provides, if just for those two characters.

Nukemarine wrote:

Another solution is to download the greasemonkey script allowing you to change up the keyword. Then, change "Resemblance" to "Resemblance (not 如)" and "Likeness" to "Likeness (not 肖)".

I use the name of a primitive for disambiguation when the kanji are true synonyms.
Eg: 捜す to search (monkey); 探す to search (tree).

Nukemarine wrote:

Any of you know the Japanese term for kanji with similar meaning?

同訓異字?

iSoron wrote:

I use the name of a primitive for disambiguation when the kanji are true synonyms.
Eg: 捜す to search (monkey); 探す to search (tree).

Those aren't true synonyms, they mean different things. Search for something lost vs search for something desired. They are homonyms though

But yeah, as far as kanji review, I never put any particular effort into disambiguation. It doesn't really matter until they're part of vocabulary, and then you know what they mean specifically anyway.

QuackingShoe wrote:

Those aren't true synonyms, they mean different things. Search for something lost vs search for something desired. They are homonyms though

Ops. Yeah, you're right.
「なくした物を捜す」,「目的の物を探す」.

Thanks for the correction.

haha yes i've had those problems on those kanjis too often. Also complete made me come up with a mindblank all the time. Simply because i've reviewed it so often have i been able to remember it now. I don't know it as a story now I just remember it So just keep reviewing and you'll get there eventually ^^

I recommend looking up the actual meaning in a dictionary
肖 is 'closer' to its meaning as it means 'be similar to' [somebody]
appears in juko like
shouzo [portrait, likeness, image]
shouzouga - portrait
etc etc

where as 如 has a much more 'technical' meaning;
如く　（ごとく） - as though, as if, like,
如く（しく） - to be equal
and in compounds it seems to be used in a much more technical manner as a suffix modifier, interrogative words,  ("ikaga", a famous one you'll learn when asking how much something is, )


I can't believe you people don't even check the meaning of the kanji or its uses, that's the first thing i do.
So you can tell these two are completely different in meaning and what not. And this is by simply e-dicting their possible compounds/uses.


Let me be frank, i forgot the stories for those two characters, but i could write them out easily if tested .

Ah yeah story just popped out now, different sparkling things resemble each other and there's a likeness between all womens' mouths that we seek

Last edited by liosama (2008 December 23, 7:31 am)