SYNTHESIS OF CONTRADICTORIES. 3!
11 47. Sometimes, however, the two members of the com- pound are co-ordinated, thus : tsuki-hi, " months [and] days."
so-moku, " herbs [and] trees" (a Chinese compound, the component parts of which are not used alone). But though they are closely joined in pronunciation, there would be no harm in considering them as independ- ent words and in so writing them, especially if they are native Japanese terms, thus :
ani ototo, " elder brother [and] younger brother," i.e. " brothers."
ane imoto, " elder sister [and] younger sister," i.e. " sisters."
umi kawa, " [the] sea [and the] rivers."
hi tsuki Jwshi, " [the] sun, moon [and] stars." 11 48. The co-ordination sometimes assumes a peculiar form, which has been aptly named " the synthesis of contradictories," because from two terms of opposite signification there results a third abstract term giving the mean of the other two, thus :
en-kin, "far-near," i.e. " distance."
kan-dan, " cold-heat," i.e. " temperature."
nan-nyo, "man-woman," i.e. " sex."
sei-sui, " prosperity-decline," i.e. " the ups and downs,"
" the fortunes " of a family, kingdom, &c. The above are Chinese vocables. As Japanese examples, though not nouns, we may take
aru-nashi, " is-isn't," i.e. "the question of the ex- istence of a thing."
yoshi-ashi, " good-bad," i.e. " quality," " degree of excellence."
