生
sei
Raw fish, draft beer, and your teacher share one character
The picture A sprout has pushed up out of the ground and stands there with nothing done to it yet. 生 is what has just come up and is still untouched; 死 is what has stopped and grows no more.
Where the picture shows up in 生
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untouched by fire
この魚は生で食べられますか。
kono sakana wa nama de taberaremasu ka
Can you eat this fish raw?
Fish on the cutting board lies there in its uncooked red, nothing done to it
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poured straight from the keg
生ビールを二つください。
nama-bīru o futatsu kudasai
Two draft beers, please.
A tap is pulled down and beer runs straight from the keg into the glass, foam rising
生ビール is beer poured straight from the keg without being heated.
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the day it first came up
今日は娘の誕生日です。
kyō wa musume no tanjōbi desu
Today is my daughter's birthday.
A child's name is written in one calendar square with a single candle burning above it
誕生 is 'being born up into the world': a birthday is the square where that sprout first appeared.
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a person still growing
学生は半額になります。
gakusei wa hangaku ni narimasu
Students get half price.
A student card is held out at the window and the ticket price drops by half
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the one who came up first
田中先生に聞いてみます。
Tanaka-sensei ni kiite mimasu
I'll ask Mr. Tanaka.
Someone further along the same road looks back and waves you on
先生 is 'the one born earlier': the one who grew up ahead of you.
All of it in one picture
生 is one sprout pushing up through soil. Leave it untouched by fire or hand and it is 生, raw; pour beer straight from the keg without heating it and you get 生ビール, draft. Mark the day a person first came up into the world and you get 誕生日, a birthday; point at someone still growing and you get 学生, a student; point at the one who came up ahead of you and you get 先生, a teacher. It always points at what has just come up and is still untouched.