The kanji 塊 primarily conveys the concept of a solid mass, lump, or chunk of something. It often refers to a single, cohesive unit, distinct from its surroundings. This can apply to various materials like earth, stone, or even abstract concepts like a collection of thoughts or a feeling of something solid.

・On-yomi (音読み): カイ (kai) ・Kun-yomi (訓読み): かたまり (katamari)

⚫︎ 土塊 (dokai) Translation: Earth clod; lump of earth ⚫︎ 肉塊 (nikukai) Translation: Lump of meat ⚫︎ 感情の塊 (kanjou no katamari) Translation: A mass of emotions; a lump of feeling

The kanji 塊 is a 形声文字 (keisei moji), a phono-semantic compound character. The left side is the radical 土 (tsuchi), meaning "earth" or "soil," indicating the semantic component. The right side is 鬼 (oni), originally representing "a monster" or "a ghost", but in this context serving as the phonetic component, indicating the sound and suggesting the solidity and lumpiness of the object represented by the character. Therefore, this character was created by combining the meaning of "earth" with a component suggesting sound and also some properties (such as shape).