How is it possible to naively get both "Foreign Carrot Regime" and "Foreigner Suffrage" from "外国人参政権"?
I'm interested in how the same kanji can be combined in different ways to create a different meaning.
How is it possible to naively get both "Foreign Carrot Regime" and "Foreigner Suffrage" from "外国人参政権"?
I'm interested in how the same kanji can be combined in different ways to create a different meaning.
[外国]{がい・こく} + [人参]{にん・じん} + [政権]{せい・けん} → Foreign + Carrot + Regime
[外国人]{がい・こく・じん} + [参政権]{さん・せい・けん} → Foreigner + Suffrage
外国人 is formed from "外" (outside), "国" (country), and "人" (person). Outside country person = foreigner.
外国 is formed from "外" (outside), "国" (country). Outside country = foreign.
人参 can mean either carrot or ginseng. Wiktionary's entry on 人参 refers to 人參 in Chinese, describing its etymology as a combination of the Chinese characters for person plus that of a root, because of the forked root of ginseng looking like a human's limbs.
"Suffrage" is 参政権, and "Regime" is 政権. The former contains "参", which jisho.org says can mean participation. Participation + regime = suffrage.
Foreign suffrage = Outside country person | participation in regime.
Foreign carrot regime = Outside country | person root | regime.
I don't quite understand why "参" has meanings of both root and participation, but apart from that, it makes sense.