Kanji that look exactly like what they mean (凸 凹 串 傘)

Some kanji need no story at all. 凸 is a bump, 凹 is a dent, 串 is a skewer with food on it, and 傘 is an umbrella. Put the first two together and you get 凸凹 (dekoboko), bumpy, a word that looks exactly like a bumpy road.

Bump and dent: 凸 and 凹

凸 sticks up in the middle and 凹 sinks in. Unlike most picture kanji, they aren’t ancient drawings worn down over time. They were made from simple abstract shapes, and they only appear in writing after the Han dynasty: the Shuowen Jiezi, a Chinese dictionary from around 100 CE, doesn’t list them.

The readings are where it gets fun:

• 凸凹 (dekoboko), bumpy or uneven, uses native readings you’ll rarely meet anywhere else: でこ (deko) for the bump and ぼこ (boko) for the dent.
• Swap the order and read them the Chinese way, and you get 凹凸 (outotsu), another word for unevenness.
• 凹む (hekomu), to be dented, is also casual slang for feeling down: 凹んでる (hekonderu), “I’m feeling low”.
• でこ, the bump, is also the forehead, usually said as おでこ (odeko).

Both kanji have five strokes, and the stroke cards below show the order.

Skewer: 串

串 looks like two pieces of food pierced by a stick, and that’s close to what scholars say it is: bronze inscriptions show a vertical line running through two circles, meaning to pierce or string together. In Japanese, 串 (kushi) is a skewer, the stick in yakitori and in 串カツ (kushikatsu), deep-fried skewers.

Umbrella: 傘

傘 is the shape of an open umbrella. Its first meaning was a canopy, a kind of large ceremonial parasol carried in processions in ancient China. A handy way to remember the details: a roof-like canopy on top, a handle down the middle, and four little people (人) sheltering underneath. In Japanese, 傘 (kasa) is any umbrella or parasol: 雨傘 (amagasa) for rain, and 日傘 (higasa) for sun.

How to use them

• この道は凸凹している。

  Kono michi wa dekoboko shite iru.

  This road is bumpy.

• 車のドアが凹んだ。

  Kuruma no doa ga hekonda.

  The car door got dented.

• 焼き鳥を三本ください。

  Yakitori o sanbon kudasai.

  Three yakitori skewers, please.

• 傘を持っていったほうがいいよ。

  Kasa o motte itta hou ga ii yo.

  You'd better take an umbrella.

• Umbrella verbs. You put up an umbrella with 傘を差す (kasa o sasu) and close it with 傘を閉じる (kasa o tojiru).
• 相合傘 (aiaigasa), two people sharing one umbrella, is the classic picture of a couple. Drawn as a simple umbrella with a name on each side of the handle, it’s the Japanese version of initials carved in a heart.
• 傘下 (sanka), “under the umbrella”, describes a company that belongs to a bigger group, much like the English phrase.
• Skewers are counted with 本 (hon), the counter for long, thin things: 一本 (ippon), 二本 (nihon), 三本 (sanbon).

Words with the same kanji

Remember it

You don’t need a story for these four. Just look: a bump, a dent, a skewer of dumplings, an umbrella. If you can draw them, you can read them.

The kanji in this lesson

Tap Draw it to watch the stroke order. Numbers show where each stroke starts.

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Draw it

Sources

• Multi-function Chinese Character Database (CUHK): 凸
• Wiktionary: 串
• Multi-function Chinese Character Database (CUHK): 傘
• Kotobank: 相合傘 (Daijisen, Nihon Kokugo Daijiten)

Written by the Chirami team with the help of AI, then checked against JMdict and KANJIDIC2. How we write lessons. Spotted a mistake? Email support@brightsmilesolutions.org.