A few days ago, I encountered a new kanji: 樹木 “jumoku”. My wife told me it meant “tree”. I asked her what the difference was between that kanji, and the simpler one (木) , “ki”, that also means tree. She explained: “We use jumoku usually only with another kanji”. I asked her to give an example: “Well, we might combine it with 木 (ki, = tree). “Okay”, I said, “what does it mean when you combine jumoku with ki?” She anwered: “It means “tree”.”
I think you’ll understand why I burst out laughing (although she didn’t). How in the world is a non-Japanese ever supposed to understand the logic behind such things? I think for the time being, I will forget about jumoku, and stick with the simple 木.
