手数
てかず · tekazu · JLPT N1 · noun
trouble
手数 = hand + count: the trouble of handling things one move at a time, like counting hand-moves in a game
Hands (手) plus number (数) gives moves you must make by hand. Labor and trouble come from counting every hand-made step, as in the number of moves in a board game.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.
数 — 婁 (lóu, phonetic) + 攵 (action radical)
数 is a phono-semantic compound. The right side 攵 (a hand holding a stick) suggests an action, originally tallying or counting by striking marks. The left side 婁 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning broadened from 'to count' to 'number' and 'several'.
てすう · tesuu · JLPT N1 · noun
trouble
手 (hand) + 数 (number/count): the number of hand moves you must handle, so trouble and labor both come from it
Literally 'hand count': the number of moves or steps you have to handle by hand. In Go and shogi it means the number of moves, and in everyday use it means effort or trouble taken.
手 — pictograph of a hand with five fingers
手 is a pictograph showing an open hand with fingers and a wrist. Early bronze and oracle bone forms clearly depict five splayed fingers, which simplified over time into the modern shape. It keeps its original meaning of 'hand' and also serves as a radical in many characters related to hand actions.
数 — 婁 (lóu, phonetic) + 攵 (action radical)
数 is a phono-semantic compound. The right side 攵 (a hand holding a stick) suggests an action, originally tallying or counting by striking marks. The left side 婁 supplies the sound. Over time the meaning broadened from 'to count' to 'number' and 'several'.