KANJI TRIVIA. The description below comes from Wikipedia, Chinese character classification with modifications:

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Maryann Haynes
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1 KANJI TRIVIA O.K., to be honest, this unit is on all the stuff that just didn t thematically fit in somewhere else. All of it is useful, but not all of it naturally flows from one focus to the next. These are bits and pieces of information that I have found useful over the years, and which I think will help you become a better learner of Japanese. Most of the information below is readily available in Japanese (I m essentially translating and modifying materials from an elementary student s dictionary that I have in my office 1 ), but not readily available in English. I find that approaching Japanese from a Japanese standpoint (instead of a modified gaijin standpoint) is often illuminating and, frankly, liberating. Types of Kanji There are 6 official types of kanji. The best dictionaries (like Morohashi s) will even tell you which category a kanji falls into. I m not sure that knowing the category helps one memorize the character, but it is etymologically interesting to delve into this a little more. The categories are: しょうけいもじ 1. 象形文字 (Pictograms) しじもじ 2. 指事文字 (Simple ideograms) かいいもじ 3. 会意文字 (Ideogrammic compounds) けいせいもじ 4. 形成文字 (Phono-semantic compound characters) てんちゅうもじ 5. 転注文字 (Derivative cognates) かしゃくもじ 6. 仮借文字 (Phonetic loan characters) The description below comes from Wikipedia, Chinese character classification with modifications: Traditional classification Traditional Chinese lexicography divided characters into six categories ( 六書 ), which are described below. The traditional classification is still taught but is no longer the focus of modern lexicographic practice. Some categories are not clearly defined, nor are they mutually exclusive: the first four refer to structural composition, while the last two refer to usage. For this reason, some modern scholars view them as six principles of character formation rather than six types of characters. The earliest significant, extant corpus of Chinese characters is found on turtle shells and the bones of livestock, chiefly the scapula of oxen, for use in pyromancy, a form of divination. These ancient characters are called oracle bone script. Roughly a quarter of these characters are pictograms while the rest are either phono-semantic compounds or compound ideograms. 1 小学生の漢字字典斎賀秀夫編. 小学館 1978.

Despite millennia of change in shape, usage and meaning, a few of these characters remain recognizable to the modern reader of Chinese.

However, as both the meanings and pronunciations of the characters have changed over time, these components are no longer reliable guides to either meaning or pronunciation.

Pictograms 象形 Roughly 600 Chinese characters are pictograms stylized drawings of the objects they represent. These are generally among the oldest characters.

These pictograms became progressively more stylized and lost their pictographic flavor, especially as they made the transition from the oracle bone script to the Seal of the

2 Despite millennia of change in shape, usage and meaning, a few of these characters remain recognizable to the modern reader of Chinese. At present, more than 90% of Chinese characters are phono-semantic compounds, constructed out of elements intended provide clues to both the meaning and the pronunciation. However, as both the meanings and pronunciations of the characters have changed over time, these components are no longer reliable guides to either meaning or pronunciation. The failure to recognize the historical and etymological role of these components often leads to misclassification and folk etymology. Pictograms 象形 Roughly 600 Chinese characters are pictograms stylized drawings of the objects they represent. These are generally among the oldest characters. A few, indicated below with their earliest forms, date back to oracle bones from the twelfth century BCE. These pictograms became progressively more stylized and lost their pictographic flavor, especially as they made the transition from the oracle bone script to the Seal of the Eastern Zhou, but also to a lesser extent in the transition to the clerical script of the Han Dynasty. The table below summarizes the evolution of a few Chinese pictographic characters. Where no modern simplified form is provided, it is identical to the traditional character. Oracle Bone Seal Clerical Semi- Cursive Cursive Regular (Traditional) Meaning Sun Moon Mountain Water Rain

3 Wood Rice Plant Man Woman Mother Eye Cow Goat Horse Bird Tortoise Chinese Dragon

4 Chinese Phoenix N.B.: 女 onna is a stylised drawing of a woman kneeling in profile. In the oracle bone, bronze and seal scripts, the torso vertically bisects the crossed arms; in the clerical and standard scripts, the graph is rotated 90 degrees counterclockwise so that the hands, not the feet, are pointed downward. 水 mizu "water" represents the lines of a flowing river. Simple ideograms 指事 Ideograms express an abstract idea through an iconic form, including iconic modification of pictographic characters. In the examples below, low numerals are represented by the appropriate number of strokes, directions by an iconic indication above and below a line, and the parts of a tree by marking the appropriate part of a pictogram of a tree. N.B.: Character 一二三上下本末 Gloss one two three up below root apex 本 moto, "root" - a tree ( 木 ) with the base indicated by an extra stroke. 末 matsu, "apex" - the reverse of 本, a tree with the top highlighted by an extra stroke. Ideogrammic compounds 会意 In ideogrammic compounds, also called associative compounds or logical aggregates, two or more pictographic or ideographic characters are combined to suggest a third meaning. For example, the character 各 originally meant "to arrive". (It was long ago borrowed for "each".) The oracle-bone form of this compound, very similar to the modern glyph, shows 夂 a foot (the inverted form of 止,originally a foot) at a 凵 or 口 walled object, perhaps a dwelling. The meaning of "arrive" is thus suggested jointly, as a footstep at the door. As another example, the character 明, composed of the characters for the sun and the moon, means "bright".

5 As these characters became more stylized over time, one or more of the components was often compressed or abbreviated. For example, the character 人 "human" was reduced to 亻, 水 "water" to 氵, and 艸 "grass" to 艹. A few further examples: 木 2 = 林木 3 = 森人 + 木 = 休 two trees grove three trees forest a man leaning against a tree rest 隹 + 木 = 集隹 2 + 又 = 雙女 + 子 = 好手 + 木 = 采 ( 採 ) a bird on a tree* gather together two birds in the right hand pair a girl with a child good a hand on a bush harvest 日 + 月 = 明木 2+ 火 = 焚禾 + 火 = 秋 sun and moon bright fire under woods burn grain and fire Autumn *Early forms of the character 集 ("gather together") show three birds ( 隹 ) on a tree. Phono-semantic compound characters 形聲 These are often called radical-phonetic characters. They form the majority of Chinese characters by far over 90%, and were created by combining a rebus with a determinative that is, a character with approximately the correct pronunciation (the phonetic element, similar to a phonetic complement) with one of a limited number of determinative characters which supplied an element of meaning (the semantic element, called a "radical", which centuries later would be used to organize characters in a dictionary). Such compounds remedied the difficulty of using iconic forms to represent physically similar objects (such as dogs versus wolves), actions, and abstract notions, without creating undue homophony as simple rebuses would. Rebuses were sometimes chosen that were compatible semantically as well as phonetically. It was also often the case that the determinative merely constrained the meaning of a word which already had several. 菜 sai "vegetable" is a case in point. The determinative 艹 for plants was combined with 采 sai "harvest". However, 采 sai does not merely provide the pronunciation. In classical texts it was also used to mean "vegetable". That is, 采 underwent semantic extension from "harvest" to "vegetable", and the addition of 艹 merely specified that the latter meaning was to be understood.

6 Determinative Rebus 艹 plant 采 sai harvest, vegetable Compound 菜 sai vegetable Some additional examples: Determinative Rebus 氵 water 扌 hand 木 tree 羊 yō sheep 寺 ji temple 艮 kon stopping Compound 洋 yō ocean 持 ji To take 根 kon root Derivative cognates 転注 This classification is of purely historical value, and is the least understood of the six principles of character formation. It may refer to characters which have similar meanings and often the same etymological root, but which have diverged in pronunciation and meaning. The English words chance and cadence would fit this pattern, as they share a common Latin root, cadentia "to fall". If English were written the way Chinese is, these two words might have similar characters. A good example is 楽, which is read gaku and originally had the meaning of music. But, we can also read this character raku, in which case it means something enjoyable. In Japanese, where characters have multiple meanings, this seems like not much of a stretch. But, in Chinese it is rare for one character to have more than one reading. Phonetic loan (rebus) characters 假借 These are characters that are "borrowed" to write another homophonous or near-homophonous morpheme, comparable with using "4" as a rebus for English "for". As I m sure you can imagine, this category gets messy in the move from Chinese to Japanese. In fact, it is so messy I think we ll just let this sleeping dog lie. If I try to give you good examples, I ll just confuse you further.

7 じゅくご Kanji compounds 熟語 We ve already seen how compounds (called jukugo in Japanese) are listed in Nelson s by stroke count. But there are categories of compounds, too. 1. Combinations of similar characters おんだんあたたあたた Ex.: 温暖 ( 温かい and 暖かい ) 2. Combinations of opposite characters だいしょう Ex.: 大小おおちい ( 大きい and 小さい ) 3. Combinations of characters that have a connection in meaning or category けんぶん Ex.: 見聞みき ( 見る and 聞く ) 4. Combinations in which the first character modifies or describes the second character たすうおおかず Ex.: 多数 ( 多くの数 ) 5. Combinations in which the second character modifies or describes the first character どくしょしょよ Ex.: 読書 ( 書を読む ) 6. Combinations in which the first character negates the second character ふそくた Ex.: 不足 ( 足りない ) 7. Combinations in which the first character is an honorific ごらん Ex.: 御覧 8. Combinations in which the second character adds meaning to the first character びか Ex.: 美化

8 あじ当て字 (There s no translation for this!) Although maddening, this has got to be one of my favorite odd aspects of Japanese. Really, ateji is a broad category that can be broken into three sub-categories: 1. Words that borrow the phonetic value of a kanji, but not the meaning 2. Words that borrow the meaning of the kanji, but not the phonetic value 3. Words that borrow both the meaning and the phonetic value Strap on your seatbelts, here we go: Words that borrow the phonetic value of a kanji, but not the meaning The Japanese can t claim originality here. The Chinese, even to this day, use some characters for their phonetic value, most often for foreign names. Originally Japanese wrote Amerika with the あめりかべいこく kanji 亜米利加. Over time that was shortened to 米国. Of course the U.S. is not in any particular way associated with rice, but an ignorant soul might think so looking upon this word. Likewise, ふらんすふつこく Furansu was written 仏蘭西 and then shortened to 仏国. The French do not have a corner on the Buddhist market, to be sure, but again the name 仏国 might lead one to think so. But this is not コーヒー limited to country names. A familiar word, if you re a big ice coffee fan, might be 珈琲. The first character, pronounced kō, means ornamental hairpin and the second one, pronounced hii means string of many pearls. Obviously, these characters are NOT being used for their semantic meanings, only their phonetic values. Words that borrow the meaning of the kanji, but not the phonetic value The examples say it all: かぼちゃ南瓜 : a squash ( 瓜 ) that comes from the south ( 南 ) (kabocha means winter squash ) たばこ煙草 : grass ( 草 ) that gives off smoke ( 煙 ) せりふ台詞 : words( 詞 ) that you say on a stage( 台 ) (serifu means theatrical script ) If you look up any of these kanji in the dictionary, you ll find that their readings ANY of their readings do not match the ones that appear here. Words that borrow both the meaning and the phonetic value かみそりはそ剃刃 : a blade ( 刃 ) that is used to shave ( 剃る ) hair そろばん算盤ばんけいさん : a tool ( 盤 ) that is used for calculating ( 計算する )

9 おくがな送り仮名 This is the term that is used for the kana that follows a kanji in a verb, adjective, or adverb. For example, the okurigana for 帰る is ru. At least, most people write the word this way. Some people write it 帰える but the language police in the Ministry of Education have decided that it should be 帰る. The thing to remember is that there is a government ministry that decides what is proper but of course people will do what they want in the end. A good rule is, follow the prescribed form yourself, but be prepared to see variants. Types of on-yomi おんよくんよ You ve heard the terms 音読み and 訓読み. The former is a Sinicized reading and the latter is an indigenous reading. Would that it were so simple. Ever wonder why some kanji have multiple readings, even within these categories? For example, 経 has two different on-yomi: kyō and kei. What gives? The answer is that although kanji were brought over from China, they were not brought over all at the same time. It was a long process. Moreover, they were brought over from different regions within China. The on'yomi of kanji in Japan are thus as disparate as the time periods and regions of China. The different groups are: go'on 呉音 (also known as the Wu Dynasty pronunciation) kan'on 漢音 (also known as the Han Dynasty pronunciation) tō'on 唐音 (Also known as the Chinese pronunciation) All these on'yomi are based on the Chinese pronunciation of the kanji, but sometimes the pronunciation can change dramatically in order to conform to the Japanese phonetic system. Go'on It is not clear when kanji were imported to Japan, but the process is estimated to have begun sometime around the last half of the 4th century. Kanji readings which were imported from that time until the 6th century are go'on. This was the Northern and Southern Dynasties period in China, and the cultural center of the country was the region around the Yangtze River, where the people of Wu lived. Thus, their southern Wu-style pronunciation of the kanji was that which was imported to Japan. Kan'on In the following three centuries, exchange between China and Japan increased. The capital in China moved to Chang An 長安 (present day Xi'an 西安 ) in the north. Thus, the northern pronunciation of the kanji were then imported to Japan. This pronunciation was viewed in Japan as

10 the more correct or proper pronunciation, and was used for Confucian terms, historical terms, poetry, etc. Most of the on'yomi we use today are kan'on readings. Tō'on During the Kamakura and Muromachi periods ( ) both Zen buddhism and commerce grew in Japan, and the on'yomi imported during that period are called tō'on (also sometimes called sō'on 宋音, referring to the Song Dynasty). The Song pronunciation was closer to the modern Chinese pronunciation, and consequently the tō'on is usually close to the present Chinese (Mandarin) pronunciation. Contrary to popular belief, the tō 唐 of tō'on does not refer to the Tang Dynasty, rather it refers to China as a whole. Examples In modern Japanese, all three on'yomi are used. Here is a chart with some examples of different readings for some common kanji. 和行京頭明呉音ワギャウキャウズミャウ漢音クワカウケイトウメイ唐音ヲアンキンジュウミン Most dictionaries do not distinguish between kinds of on'yomi, and really there is no need to for the average student. This information is provided simply to explain why there are so many different on'yomi for some kanji. こくじ国字 There are some kanji that were developed in Japan, not in China. These are called kokuji. Most dictionaries will indicate if a character is a kokuji. There are actually more than you might think. Most of them have only a kun-yomi, but some actually have both a kun-yomi and an on-yomi. Here are some examples: 峠 ( とうげ )mountain pass 辻 ( つじ )intersection 瓩 ( キログラム ) 榊 ( さかき )sacred tree 膵 ( スイ )pancreas 鞄 ( かばん )bag 畑 ( はたけ )field 腺 ( セン )gland 働 ( はたらくドウ )work 鋲 ( ビョウ )rivet, tack 鯱 ( しゃち ) killer whale 樫 ( かし ) evergreen oak

Chapter 3 Eating out Lesson 11 How much is the special?

Chapter 3 Eating out Lesson 11 How much is the special? LESSON GOAL: Can read e-mails and articles about food. 食べ物についてのメールと記事を読めるようになろう Match the price to its number. Choose the letter of the correct answer. 数字と値段を組み合わせます正しい答の文字を選びましょう 1. Three fifty 2. Seven