This week we are looking at…
- 変電(へんでん): electricity transformation
- 設備(せつび): facility, equipment
Related to the “electricity transformation facility” is the transformer: 変電器, where 器(き） describes some sort of machine or device. The electricity transformation equipment can include a transformer, but doesn’t have to. Several things fall under this term: power rails, transformers, all kinds of measuring devices (e.g. voltage meters) and safety related equipment.
変 is actually a kanji I cannot help but have a soft spot for. It carries a broad spectrum of (mostly negative) meaning related to “change” like disturbance, incident and disaster, but in combination with other kanji also gives more neutral variations of change. However, as an adjective it means odd, strange or eccentric. While not generally a positive description of people, it’s what makes meeting people a lot more interesting.