沙 means “sand, sifting”

さ · sa

Kun'yomi (Japanese reading)

すな, よなげる

On'yomi (Chinese reading)

サ, シャ

JLPT N1 · Taught in secondary school · 7 strokes

The story

Water (氵) running low until only a little (少) is left: sand. 沙汰 once meant washing sand to sift out the good, then judgment and news, so ご無沙汰しています, 'I've been without news', apologizes for being out of touch.

Used in ご無沙汰 (gobusata, a long silence), 沙汰 (sata, news/affair), and 表沙汰 (omotezata, becoming public)

More from Ships & Shores

• 帆 sail
• 岬 cape
• 礁 reef
• 汽 steam
• 藻 seaweed
• 舷 ship's side
• 浜 beach
• 江 inlet
• 浦 inlet
• 津 harbor
• 瀬 rapids
• 潮 tide

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Readings from KANJIDIC2, © EDRDG, CC BY-SA.