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Kanji

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from Learning kanji)

Kanji
"Kanji" written in kanji with furigana
Script type
Period
5th century CE – present
DirectionVertical right-to-left, left-to-right Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesOld Japanese, Kanbun, Japanese, Ryukyuan languages, Hachijō
Related scripts
Parent systems
Sister systems
Hanja, zhuyin, traditional Chinese, simplified Chinese, chữ Hán, chữ Nôm, Khitan script, Jurchen script, Tangut script, Yi script
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Hani (500), ​Han (Hanzi, Kanji, Hanja)
Unicode
Unicode alias
Han
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

Kanji (/ˈkæn.dʒi, ˈkɑːn.-/;[1] Japanese: 漢字, hiragana: かんじ, Katakana: カンジ, pronounced [kä̀ɲ̟́.ɟ̟͡ʑí, kä́ɲ̟́.-] ⓘ,[2][3] 'Han characters'[4][5]) are logographic Chinese characters, historically adapted from Chinese writing scripts, used in the writing of Japanese.[6] They comprised a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used today, along with the subsequently derived syllabic (phonographic) scripts of hiragana and katakana.[7][8] Kanji may have one or more readings, conventionally grouped into two categories: kun'yomi, based on native Japanese words associated with the characters' meanings, and on'yomi, based on Chinese pronunciations adapted to Japanese at different periods. Some characters, known as kokuji, were created in Japan using components and principles derived from Chinese characters.[9]

After the Meiji Restoration, Japan made its own efforts to simplify kanji, producing the forms now known as shinjitai (新字体; 'new character forms'). Since the 1920s, the Japanese government has periodically issued lists to guide character use and education. The principal lists comprise 2,136 jōyō kanji for general use and 863 additional jinmeiyō kanji permitted in names; a further character, 勒, is scheduled to become name-permitted in December 2026.[10][11][12]

The term kanji is a direct borrowing and phonetic reading (on'yomi) of the Chinese word hanzi (traditional Chinese: 漢字; simplified Chinese: 汉字; pinyin: hànzì), which is one of the formal terms used when referring to Chinese characters.[13][14] The significant use of Chinese characters in Japan first began to take hold around the 5th century CE and has since had a profound influence in shaping Japanese culture, language, literature, history, and records.[15] Inkstone artifacts at archaeological sites dating back to the earlier Yayoi period were also found to contain Chinese characters.[16]

Although many characters retain related meanings across Japanese and Chinese, their pronunciations and some of their meanings have diverged. For example, 誠 means 'sincerity' in both languages but has the Japanese readings makoto and sei, alongside Mandarin chéng. Japanese-created characters and words formed from Sino-Japanese morphemes have also sometimes been borrowed into other East Asian languages; Japanese-coined Sino-Japanese words are called wasei-kango.[9]

History

[edit]
Nihon Shoki (720 CE), considered by historians and archaeologists as the most complete extant historical record of ancient Japan, was written entirely in kanji.

Chinese characters first reached Japan on imported seals, coins, mirrors, swords and other inscribed objects. The best-known early example is the King of Na gold seal, presented by Emperor Guangwu of Han to an emissary from Wa in 57 CE.[17] Chinese coins and possible writing implements have also been found at Yayoi period sites, but widespread production and use of writing in Japan developed later, especially from the fifth century onward.[15] The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki preserve the traditional account that the scholar Wani came from Baekje during the reign of Emperor Ōjin, bringing Confucian texts and knowledge of Chinese writing; modern accounts treat the episode as a literary tradition rather than a precisely datable event.[18][19]

The earliest Japanese documents were probably written by bilingual Chinese or Korean officials employed at the Yamato court.[15] For example, the diplomatic correspondence from King Bu of Wa to Emperor Shun of Liu Song in 478 CE has been praised for its skillful use of allusion. Later, groups of people called fuhito were organized under the monarch to read and write Classical Chinese. During the reign of Empress Suiko (593–628), the Yamato court began sending full-scale diplomatic missions to China, which resulted in a large increase in Chinese literacy at the Japanese court.[20]

From the seventh century, large numbers of inscribed wooden tablets called mokkan (木簡) document administrative records, labels for goods, correspondence and writing practice. Their survival provides direct evidence for the spread of literacy and bureaucratic writing, although earlier inscriptions are known from other objects.[19][21]

Chinese characters initially served to write Sinitic texts in Japan. By the Nara and Heian periods, reading practices now called kanbun kundoku used glosses and diacritical marks to render such texts with Japanese word order, particles, and inflections.[22]

Chinese characters also came to be used to write texts in the vernacular Japanese language, resulting in the modern kana syllabaries. Around 650 CE, a writing system called man'yōgana (used in the ancient poetry anthology Man'yōshū) evolved that used a number of Chinese characters for their sound, rather than for their meaning. Man'yōgana written in cursive style evolved into hiragana (literally "fluttering kana" in reference to the motion of the brush during cursive writing), or onna-de, that is, "ladies' hand",[23] a style strongly associated with women's writing at the Heian court. Major works of Heian-era literature by women were written in hiragana. Katakana (literally "partial kana", in reference to the practice of using a part of a kanji character) emerged via a parallel path: monastery students simplified man'yōgana to a single constituent element. Thus the two other writing systems, hiragana and katakana, referred to collectively as kana, are descended from kanji. In contrast with kana (仮名, literally "borrowed name", in reference to the character being "borrowed" as a label for its sound), kanji are also called mana (真名, literally "true name", in reference to the character being used as a label for its meaning).[24][25]

In modern Japanese, kanji are used to write certain words or parts of words (usually content words such as nouns, adjective stems, and verb stems), while hiragana are used to write inflected verb and adjective endings, phonetic complements to disambiguate readings (okurigana), particles, and miscellaneous words which have no kanji or whose kanji are considered obscure or too difficult to read or remember. Katakana are mostly used for representing onomatopoeia, non-Japanese loanwords (except those borrowed from ancient Chinese), the names of plants and animals (with exceptions), and for emphasis on certain words.[26]

Orthographic reform and lists of kanji

[edit]
A young woman practicing kanji. Ukiyo-e woodblock print by Yōshū Chikanobu, 1897.

Debate over the place and number of kanji has a long history. The Edo-period scholar Kamo no Mabuchi criticized the burden imposed by a large character inventory and contrasted it with the smaller kana syllabaries; proposals to restrict or replace kanji became especially prominent in modern language reform.[27]

After the Meiji Restoration and as Japan entered an era of active exchange with foreign countries, the need for script reform in Japan began to be called for. Some scholars argued for the abolition of kanji and the writing of Japanese using only kana or Latin characters. These views were not widespread.[28]

However, the need to limit the number of kanji characters was understood, and in May 1923, the Japanese government announced 1,962 kanji characters for regular use. In 1940, the Japanese Army decided on the "Table of Restricted Kanji for Weapons Names" (兵器名称用制限漢字表, heiki meishō yō seigen kanji hyō) which limited the number of kanji that could be used for weapons names to 1,235. In 1942, the National Language Council announced the "Standard Kanji Table" (標準漢字表, hyōjun kanji-hyō) with a total of 2,528 characters, showing the standard for kanji used by ministries and agencies and in general society.[29]

In 1946, during the Allied occupation, the Japanese government adopted major orthographic reforms intended to simplify education and written communication. Although devised in the occupation context, the 1946 character policy was a Japanese reform and was not imposed by the occupation authorities.[30]

The number of characters in circulation was reduced, and formal lists of characters to be learned during each grade of school were established. Some characters were given simplified glyphs, called shinjitai (新字体). Many variant forms of characters and obscure alternatives for common characters were officially discouraged.[10]

The official character lists are guidelines for general social use rather than a ban on other characters. Characters outside the jōyō list are known as hyōgaiji (表外字).[10][31]

Kyōiku kanji

[edit]

The kyōiku kanji (教育漢字; lit. "education kanji") are the 1,026 characters allocated across the six grades of Japanese elementary school. The grade-level breakdown is the gakunen-betsu kanji haitōhyō (学年別漢字配当表), maintained through the national curriculum standards of the Ministry of Education.[32]

Jōyō kanji

[edit]

The jōyō kanji (常用漢字; regular-use kanji) list contains 2,136 characters, including all 1,026 elementary-school characters. It is an official guideline for kanji use in general social life, not a prohibition on other characters. The list was introduced in 1981 with 1,945 characters, replacing the 1,850-character tōyō kanji (当用漢字; general-use kanji) list of 1946, and was expanded to 2,136 in 2010. The 2010 additions include characters used in Japanese prefecture names.[10]

Jinmeiyō kanji

[edit]

The jinmeiyō kanji (人名用漢字; kanji for use in personal names) are the supplementary characters that, together with the 2,136 jōyō kanji, may be used in children's registered names. The list began with 92 characters in 1952 and has been expanded repeatedly. It currently contains 863 characters; 勒 is scheduled to become the 864th in December 2026.[11][12]

Hyōgai kanji

[edit]

Hyōgai kanji (表外漢字; "unlisted characters") are kanji not contained in the jōyō kanji list. They may include characters permitted for names; in ordinary publications they are often printed in traditional forms, although extended shinjitai forms also exist.[33]

Japanese Industrial Standards for kanji

[edit]

The Japanese Industrial Standards define coded character sets used in Japanese information processing. The principal kanji standards have been revised or supplemented over time:[34]

  • JIS X 0208, the main legacy two-byte standard, contains 6,355 kanji.
  • JIS X 0212, a supplementary set containing 5,801 additional kanji, was not available in the common Shift JIS encoding and consequently saw limited implementation.
  • JIS X 0213, first issued in 2000 and subsequently amended, extends the JIS X 0208 repertoire and defines Shift-JIS-compatible encodings for the enlarged set.
  • JIS X 0221:2020, the Japanese adoption of the ISO 10646/Unicode standard.[35]

Gaiji

[edit]

Gaiji (外字; literally "external characters") are kanji that are not represented in existing Japanese encoding systems. These include variant forms of common kanji that need to be represented alongside the more conventional glyph in reference works and can include non-kanji symbols as well.

Gaiji can be either user-defined characters, system-specific characters or third-party add-on products.[36] Both are a problem for information interchange, as the code point used to represent an external character will not be consistent from one computer or operating system to another.

Gaiji were nominally prohibited in JIS X 0208-1997 where the available number of code-points was reduced to only 940.[37] JIS X 0213-2000 used the entire range of code-points previously allocated to gaiji, making them completely unusable. Most desktop and mobile systems have moved to Unicode negating the need for gaiji for most users. Historically, gaiji were used by Japanese mobile service providers for emoji.

Unicode allows for optional encoding of gaiji in private use areas, while Adobe's SING (Smart INdependent Glyphlets)[38][39] technology allows the creation of customized gaiji.

The Text Encoding Initiative uses a <g> element to encode any non-standard character or glyph, including gaiji. The g stands for gaiji.[40][41]

Total number of kanji

[edit]

There is no definitive count of kanji characters, just as there is none of Chinese characters generally. The Dai Kan-Wa Jiten, which is considered to be comprehensive in Japan, contains about 50,000 characters. The Zhonghua Zihai, published in 1994 in China, contains about 85,000 characters, but the majority of them are not in common use in any country, and many are obscure variants or archaic forms.[42][43][44]

The official 2,136-character jōyō list provides a guideline for general social use, while many additional characters occur in names, historical texts and specialist vocabulary. Japanese encoding standards therefore cover far more characters than are taught for routine use; the number depends on which JIS or Unicode repertoire is counted.[10][45]

Readings

[edit]

Individual kanji may write one or more different words or morphemes, leading to different pronunciations or "readings". Context—including the intended word, whether the character stands alone or forms part of a compound, and surrounding grammatical material—normally determines the reading. For example, 今日 may be read kyō for "today" or konnichi in expressions referring to the present day. Furigana can specify rare, literary or otherwise non-standard readings.[9][46]

Readings are conventionally categorized as kun'yomi (訓読み) ("meaning readings"), based on native Japanese words, or on'yomi (音読み) ("sound readings"), derived from Chinese pronunciations. A character may have readings in both categories, in only one, or—especially in names and compounds—an irregular reading that applies in a particular word.[9][47]

Some common characters have many officially listed readings. The jōyō table, for example, gives 生 the on readings sei and shō and ten kun readings or inflected forms: i-kiru, i-kasu, i-keru, u-mu, u-mareru, ha-eru, ha-yasu, nama, ki, and o-u.[47]

On'yomi (Sino-Japanese reading)

[edit]

The on'yomi (音読み; [oɰ̃jomi], lit. "sound(-based) reading") are Sino-Japanese readings based on Chinese pronunciations that were adapted to Japanese phonology. A character may have several on readings because borrowing occurred at different times, from different regional varieties, and with different adaptation strategies.[48] Although most Japanese-created characters (kokuji) have no on reading, there are exceptions: 働 "to work" has kun hatara(ku) and on dō, while 腺 "gland" is conventionally read sen; their phonetic components are 動 and 泉, respectively.[49][50]

Kun'yomi (native reading)

[edit]

The kun'yomi (訓読み; [kɯɰ̃jomi], lit. "meaning reading") is based on a native Japanese word, or yamato kotoba, associated with the meaning of a character. A single character can have several kun'yomi, while others have none.[9]

Ateji

[edit]

In the narrow sense, ateji (当て字) are kanji used for their established sounds without regard to their meanings, as in phonetic spellings of names or loanwords. In broader reference usage, the term may also include meaning-based spellings whose reading belongs to the word as a whole rather than to the individual characters; these are more specifically called jukujikun.[51]

Gairaigo

[edit]

Long foreign words have occasionally been assigned as meaning-based readings of single characters or symbols. For example, 糎 was coined for センチメートル (senchimētoru, "centimetre"), although the unit is now normally written with the Latin abbreviation cm.[52]

Mixed readings

[edit]
A jūbako (重箱), which has a mixed on-kun reading
A yutō (湯桶), which has a mixed kun-on reading

Kanji compounds can mix on'yomi and kun'yomi. An on-kun compound is called jūbakoyomi (重箱読み), after jūbako (重箱; a tiered food box), while a kun-on compound is called yutōyomi (湯桶読み), after yutō (湯桶; a hot-water vessel). The names are themselves examples of the patterns. Other mixed compounds include basho (場所; "place", kun-on), kin'iro (金色; "golden", on-kun) and aikidō (合気道; the martial art Aikido", kun-on-on).[53][54]

Mixed or otherwise irregular readings also occur in phonetic place-name spellings. Sapporo, for instance, has an Ainu-derived name represented by the kanji 札幌; the characters provide a conventional written form rather than the etymology of the name.[55]

Special readings

[edit]
A line of dialogue from the manga Vinland Saga using gikun, the word "ネファタル" (hnefatafl) is written with the kanji for "将棋" (shogi) to clarify for Japanese readers that hnefatafl is a board game similar to shogi.

Gikun (義訓) and jukujikun (熟字訓) are meaning-based readings in which a word's pronunciation does not correspond directly to the ordinary readings of its individual characters. In jukujikun, an established word is represented by a multi-character spelling chosen for its overall meaning.[51][56]

Gikun assigns a context-specific reading according to the meaning of a character or character sequence rather than using its fixed ordinary reading. Such readings may be indicated with furigana, allowing the written form and the supplied pronunciation to contribute different information.[57]

In jukujikun, the word is read as a whole. For example, 今朝 "this morning" is normally kesa, and 今日 "today" is normally kyō; neither reading divides into the regular readings of the two characters. The alternative konnichi for 今日 occurs in expressions referring to "the present day" and in the greeting konnichi wa.[56][58]

Jukujikun are used for native words such as 大和 (Yamato) and for some older borrowings, including 柳葉魚 (shishamo) from Ainu and 煙草 (tabako) from Portuguese. Such words are also commonly written in kana.[51][59]

A case where jukujikun is used for Sino-Japanese is the word kyōdai, which, prototypically, means "brothers" and is spelt 兄(きょう)弟(だい) ("big and little brothers"). However, the meaning has been expanded to "siblings" in general, and can assume such spellings as 姉(きょう)妹(だい) ("(big and little) sisters", alternatively pronounced shimai), 兄(きょう)妹(だい) ("big brother and little sister") and 姉(きょう)弟(だい) ("big sister and little brother"). It is also possible to say otoko kyōdai ("male siblings; brothers") and onna kyōdai ("female siblings; sisters").[60]

Because the reading belongs to the whole written word, the number of characters need not match the number of morae or syllables. 啄木鳥, for example, has the short reading kera as well as kitsutsuki and other historical forms.[61]

The written form of a jukujikun is tied to a particular word, and the same characters may also have a regular Sino-Japanese reading. For example, 馴鹿 can be read tonakai for "reindeer", alongside the rarer Sino-Japanese reading junroku.[62]

The word represented by jukujikun is often native Japanese or an old borrowing. Most are nouns, but established readings also occur in other word classes. Their histories can involve contraction or fusion; 今日 kyō, for example, developed from an older form kefu.[63]

Inflected words can also have whole-word readings. Examples include 可愛い (kawai-i, "cute"), 相応しい (fusawa-shii, "appropriate") and 流行る (haya-ru, "to be in vogue"). Their okurigana identifies the inflection even though the kanji sequence is not read character by character.[64][65]

Typographically, furigana for a whole-word reading may be centred over the entire compound rather than aligned character by character, reflecting that the reading belongs to the word as a unit.[66]

Single character gairaigo

[edit]

In rare cases, a character has a meaning-based reading borrowed from a modern foreign language, although modern loanwords are normally written in katakana. Examples recorded in dictionaries include pēji (頁、ページ; page), botan (釦、ボタン; button), zero (零、ゼロ; zero), and the unit character mētoru (米、メートル; metre). Such readings are conventionally shown in katakana rather than the hiragana used for native kun readings.[67]

Nanori

[edit]

Some kanji have name readings called nanori (名乗り). These may preserve uncommon or historically specialized readings and are used principally in personal names; place names likewise contain conventional readings not necessarily predictable from ordinary vocabulary.[68]

When to use which reading

[edit]

Although compounds favour on'yomi and independent native words often use kun'yomi, these are tendencies rather than mechanical rules. Many characters have several readings, and the intended word must be identified from context; names and place names are especially unpredictable.[9][69]

A character followed by okurigana often has a kun reading, as in 赤い akai "red" and 見る miru "see", but this is not absolute: 感じる kanjiru "feel" has a Sino-Japanese stem. Okurigana can distinguish 食べる taberu from 食う kuu, both "eat", while 開く remains ambiguous between aku and hiraku, both "open".[9][10]

Multi-character compounds commonly use on readings, but mixed and all-kun compounds are well established. Examples include 牛肉 gyūniku "beef" (on-on), 豚肉 butaniku "pork" (kun-on), and 手紙 tegami "letter" (kun-kun). Conversely, a character used as a word by itself often has a kun reading, as in 北 kita "north", but on-reading words such as 愛 ai "love" and 禅 zen are also independent. Only the lexical and sentence context determines whether 金, for example, is kin "gold" or kane "money; metal".[9][47]

Multiple readings create written homographs. 上手 can be jōzu "skilful", uwate "the upper hand", or kamite "stage left"; 明日 may be ashita, asu, or the more formal myōnichi, all referring to tomorrow. The reverse problem occurs in speech: homographs such as 市立 and 私立, both normally shiritsu, may be distinguished as ichiritsu and watakushiritsu.[70][71][72][73]


Legalese

[edit]

Certain words have conventional specialist readings in legal contexts. The following contrasts are recorded in major Japanese dictionaries:[74][75]

Word Common reading Legalese reading
懈怠 ("negligence")[74] ketai kaitai
競売 ("auction")[74] kyōbai keibai
競落 ("acquisition at an auction")[74] kyōraku keiraku
遺言 ("will")[74] yuigon igon
図画 ("imagery")[76] zuga toga[a]

Ambiguous readings

[edit]

Where context alone may not distinguish homophones, speakers sometimes substitute a mixed or otherwise distinctive reading. Dictionaries explicitly label a number of such disambiguating forms.[74][75] Examples include:

Ambiguous reading Disambiguated readings
baishun baishun (売春; "selling sex", on)

kaishun (買春; "buying sex", yutō)[75]

jiten kotobaten (辞典; "word dictionary", yutō)[75]

kototen (事典; "encyclopedia", yutō)[75][74]

mojiten (字典; "character dictionary", irregular, from moji (文字; "character"))[75]

kagaku kagaku (科学; "science", on)

bakegaku (化学; "chemistry", yutō)[75][74]

karyō ayamachiryō (過料; "administrative fine", yutō)[75][74]

togaryō (科料; "misdemeanor fine", yutō)[75][74]

Shin Hatashin (秦; "Qin", irregular, from the alternative reading Hata used as a family name)[75][74]

Susumushin (晋; "Jin", irregular, from the alternative reading Susumu used as a personal name)[75][74]

shiritsu ichiritsu (市立; "municipal", yutō)[75][74]

watakushiritsu (私立; "private", yutō)[75][74]

There are also cases where the words are technically heterophones, but they have similar meanings and pronunciations, therefore liable to mishearing and misunderstanding.

Word with an alternative reading Word that may be confused with
gishu (技手; "assistant engineer", on), alternatively gite, jūbako[75][74] gishi (技師; "engineer", on)
shuchō (首長; "chief", on), alternatively kubichō, yutō[74][75] shichō (市長; "mayor", on)

Different kanji for different meanings

[edit]

Japanese orthography sometimes distinguishes homophonous or historically related words by assigning different kanji spellings according to meaning.[10]

The polysemous adjective yasui [jɑ̈̀sɨ́ì] is spelt with different kanji depending on its meanings: 安い・廉い[77] for "cheap," with the kanji 廉 representing the Chinese word for "cheap;" and 易い[78] for "easy; simple," with 易 representing the Chinese word for "easy; simple." Its more archaic meaning, "calm; at ease; peaceful; at peace; in peace," is preserved in the imperative form 安かれ (yasukare; 'may you/they/it be at peace (alive); may you/they/it rest in peace (dead)'),[79] which explains the kanji 安 which represents the Chinese word for "calm; peaceful."

The adjective atsui [ɑ̈̀t͡sɨ́ì] is spelt as 熱い[80] for tangible things hot to the touch, and as 暑い[81] for hot weather or climate. 熱 and 暑 are distinct words in Chinese, although the former can also be used for hot weather or climate. Atsui (厚い; [ɑ̈̀t͡sɨ́í]) meaning "thick" is unrelated.

The words oji "uncle" and oba "aunt" can be spelt differently depending on the age of the aunt or uncle relative to that of one's parent. If he or she is older than one's parent, the spellings are 伯父[82] and 伯母;[83] if he or she is younger, they are 叔父[84] and 叔母.[85] These spellings are taken from Chinese, although 伯母 and 叔母 are specifically the wives of one's paternal uncles rather than just "aunts" as in Japanese.

Alteration of spelling with homophonous kanji

[edit]

Homophonous kanji have also sometimes replaced older spellings, whether through orthographic reform or conventional substitution.

The character 和 (wa, "harmony") came to be preferred over the homophonous 倭 in names for Japan; the latter had acquired disparaging associations in some Chinese usage. See Wa (name of Japan).[86]

The kanji 才 (sai) originally means "talent," but due to its simple calligraphy as well as homophony with 歳 (sai), it is often used as a counter for "year of age,"[87] although the former has not completely displaced the latter. These characters are not homophonous in other languages, where 才 is cái in Mandarin, 재 (jae) in Korean and tài in Vietnamese, while 歳 is suì, 세 (se) and tuế.

The word for telephone, 電話(機) denwa(ki) in Japanese, was spelt with the Chinese characters for "lightning/electricity," "speech" and "machine" in that order, together literally meaning "electric-speech machine", a homophonous alteration of the original name for the device, 伝話機 (or 傳話機 in kyūjitai), literally "speech-transmitting machine," whereby 伝 meant "transmit." The original spelling was first attested in 1878, two years after the telephone was introduced into Japan,[88] and the later spelling came into competition with it not long after, as shown in an 1885 legislative document which pointed out the inconsistencies in terminology in a bill between 傳話 (with 傳 as in "transmit"), 電話 (with 電 as in "lightning") and even テレボン (terebon, supposedly a misspelling of terehon, an early rendition of the English word telephone).[89] One 1892 English-Japanese dictionary uses the spelling 傳話機 for the "telephone" entry whose definition contains the word "electricity", but 電話機 for the "telephonic" entry right underneath.[90] Ultimately, only 電話 survived and was adapted into Sino-Xenic vocabularies as diànhuà in Mandarin Chinese, 전화 (jeonhwa) in Korean and điện thoại in Vietnamese.[91] Likewise, the word denshin(ki) (電信(機); 'telegraph'; lit. 'electric-signal machine'; earlier 伝信機 lit. 'signal-transmitting machine', first attested in 1860)[92] was adapted as diànxìn, điện tín and 전신 (jeonsin). Compare denpō (電報; 'telegram'; lit. 'electric information') which has always been spelt as such,[93] adapted as diànbào, 전보 (jeonbo) and điện báo. The homophony between 電 "electricity" and 伝 "transmit" only occurs in Japanese and Korean, but not in Mandarin and Vietnamese, where 電 is diàn and điện, while 伝 is chuán and truyền.

The word kansū ('mathematical function'), a Chinese borrowing, was originally spelt 函数, with the kanji for "box/contain" and "number," thus "containing number," which refers to the fact that functions "contain" variables.[b] The term is first attested in Dàiwēijī Shíjí (代微積拾級 'Ten Levels of Algebra and Calculus'), a seminal 1859 translation into Chinese of Elias Loomis's Elements of Analytical Geometry and of the Differential and Integral Calculus, resulting from a joint effort between the Chinese mathematician Li Shanlan and the British missionary Alexander Wylie.[94][c] Due to the nonstandard status of the kanji 函 (kan), homophonous alternatives such as 干 (kan) were proposed,[95] but ultimately 関 (kan, but historically kwan) won out.[96] This homophony only occurs in Japanese, and other languages adopted their own readings of 函 as in Mandarin hánshù, Korean 함수 (hamsu) and Vietnamese hàm số, as opposed to their readings of 関 which are guān, 관 (gwan) and quan.

Place and personal names

[edit]

Japanese place names draw on on readings, kun readings, phonetic spellings and name-specific conventions. Familiar examples with predominantly on readings include 東京 Tōkyō, 京都 Kyōto, 本州 Honshū and 九州 Kyūshū, while examples with native readings include 大阪 Ōsaka, 青森 Aomori and 箱根 Hakone. Historical place-name spellings may represent meaning, sound, or a mixture of the two, so their pronunciation cannot always be predicted from the ordinary readings of their characters.[9][97]

Abbreviated names may select a reading that differs from the full place name. 阪神 Hanshin, for example, combines 阪 from 大阪 Ōsaka and 神 from 神戸 Kōbe. 京成 Keisei similarly combines characters from 東京 Tōkyō and 成田 Narita.[98][99]

Personal names may use ordinary on and kun readings as well as nanori, and the same written name can have more than one possible pronunciation. Since 2025, Japanese family registers have recorded the furigana of names; the registered pronunciation generally must be recognizable as a reading of the written name, subject to provisions for established existing usage.[100][101][102]

Established Chinese names in Japanese have traditionally been written in kanji and read with Sino-Japanese pronunciations, while less familiar names are often accompanied or replaced by katakana approximating the source-language pronunciation. Postwar official guidance retained internationally conventional Japanese forms for a limited set of well-known place names.[103]

Selected established Japanese forms of Chinese place names
English nameKanjiKatakanaRomanization
Beijing北京ペキンPekin
Shanghai上海シャンハイShanhai
Hong Kong香港ホンコンHonkon
Taipei台北タイペイ / タイホクTaipei / Taihoku[104]

The same character can appear twice with different surface forms of its reading. Most commonly, the second occurrence undergoes voicing (rendaku), as in 人々 hitobito "people"; other repeated-character words may contain unrelated readings fixed by the word's history.[9]


Pronunciation assistance

[edit]

The intended pronunciation of kanji can be shown with ruby characters known as furigana—small kana placed above horizontal text or to the right of vertical text, as in 振仮名（ふりがな）. Furigana are used for unfamiliar or non-standard readings, in materials for children and language learners, and when a writer deliberately pairs a written expression with a different spoken form.[9][105]

Spelling words

[edit]

Because many words and characters share a pronunciation, a kanji cannot always be identified from its reading alone. In speech, a character may be specified by a familiar word that contains it, by its native reading, or by describing its components; dictionaries instead provide standardized indexes by reading, radical and stroke count.[9][34]

Dictionaries

[edit]

General Japanese dictionaries normally give word readings in kana. Character dictionaries conventionally distinguish on readings in katakana from kun readings in hiragana, and may separate the part represented by the character from following okurigana; for example, 食べる taberu may be shown as た.べる. Character entries also commonly provide compounds and indexes by radical and stroke count.[9][34]

Local developments and divergences from Chinese

[edit]

Kanji descend from Chinese characters, but their Japanese use has developed independently over many centuries. Differences from modern Chinese usage include characters coined in Japan, characters assigned specifically Japanese meanings, and postwar Japanese simplifications known as shinjitai.[9][19] These differences include:

  • the use of characters created in Japan,
  • characters that have been given different meanings in Japanese, and
  • post-World War II simplifications (shinjitai) of the character.

Mainland Chinese and Japanese simplification policies also produced different standard forms for some historically corresponding characters.[106]

Kokuji

[edit]

Characters created in Japan according to Chinese structural principles are called kokuji (国字; national characters) or wasei kanji (和製漢字; Japanese-made kanji). They are often semantic compounds and ordinarily have only native readings, although exceptions such as 働 have an on reading derived from a phonetic component. Other familiar examples include 峠 tōge "mountain pass", 畑 hatake "field", and 辻 tsuji "crossroads".[107]

Comparable locally coined characters occur in other writing traditions derived from Chinese characters, including Korean gukja, Vietnamese chữ Nôm, and Zhuang sawndip.[108]

Kokkun

[edit]

In addition to kokuji, existing Chinese characters have sometimes acquired specifically Japanese meanings. These are not newly created characters; the Japanese usages are called kok‌kun (国訓). Authoritative Japanese dictionaries give examples such as 鮎 ayu "sweetfish", where the corresponding Chinese character historically denoted a catfish.[109] Further examples include:

CharacterJapanese readingJapanese meaning
藤fujiwisteria[110]
沖okiopen sea; offshore[111]
椿tsubakiCamellia japonica[112]
鮎ayusweetfish[109]
咲sakuto bloom[113]

Types of kanji by category

[edit]

Han-dynasty scholar Xu Shen, in his 2nd-century dictionary Shuowen Jiezi, classified Chinese characters into six categories (Chinese: 六書 liùshū, Japanese: 六書 rikusho). The traditional classification is still taught but is problematic and is no longer the focus of modern lexicographic practice, as 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.[114][115]

Shōkei moji (象形文字)

[edit]

Shōkei (Mandarin: xiàngxíng) characters are pictographic representations of objects. Examples include 目 "eye" and 木 "tree". Their modern forms may differ greatly from the earliest inscriptions, and pictographs make up only a small fraction of the character inventory.[115]

Shiji moji (指事文字)

[edit]

Shiji (Mandarin: zhǐshì) characters, often called simple indicatives, use graphic relations to represent abstract concepts; examples include 上 "above" and 下 "below". They make up a very small fraction of modern characters.[115]

Kaii moji (会意文字)

[edit]

Kaii (Mandarin: huìyì) characters, often called associative compounds, combine components interpreted together for meaning. A traditional example is 休 "rest", analyzed from 亻 "person" and 木 "tree". The Japanese-created 峠 "mountain pass" similarly combines 山 "mountain", 上 "up" and 下 "down".[115][114]

Keisei moji (形声文字)

[edit]

Keisei (Mandarin: xíngshēng) characters are phono-semantic compounds and form by far the largest structural category. Typically one component suggests a broad semantic class and another approximates the character's pronunciation at the time the compound was formed. Historical sound change and the borrowing of Chinese readings into Japanese can make the phonetic relationship less transparent in modern on'yomi; it does not predict a character's native kun'yomi.[115][114]

Tenchū moji (転注文字)

[edit]

Tenchū (Mandarin: zhuǎnzhù) characters have variously been called "derivative characters", "derivative cognates", "mutually explanatory", or "mutually synonymous" characters. It is the least clearly defined of the six traditional categories, and proposed examples depend on how the category is interpreted.[115]

Kasha moji (仮借文字)

[edit]

Kasha (Mandarin: jiǎjiè) are rebuses, sometimes called "phonetic loans". A graph originally associated with one word was borrowed to write a different, similar-sounding word. For example, 來 originally depicted wheat but was borrowed to write the homophonous word "come"; a differentiated graph, 麥 (modern Japanese 麦), was then used for "wheat".[115]

[edit]

The iteration mark (々) indicates repetition of the preceding kanji, functioning similarly to a ditto mark in English. It is read as though the kanji were written twice, for example iroiro (色々; "various") and tokidoki (時々; "sometimes"), and also appears in names such as Sasaki (佐々木). Its origin is uncertain; dictionaries note that it is sometimes described as a cursive or simplified form related to 仝, a variant of dō (同; "same").[116][117]

Another abbreviated symbol is ヶ, in appearance a small katakana ke, but actually a simplified version of the kanji 箇, a general counter. It is pronounced ka when used to indicate quantity (such as 六ヶ月, rokkagetsu "six months") or ga if used as a genitive (as in 関ヶ原 sekigahara "Sekigahara").[118]

Collation

[edit]

Kanji dictionaries commonly use radical-and-stroke sorting. Characters are assigned a principal radical, grouped under that radical, and then ordered by their remaining or total stroke counts according to the dictionary's convention. For example, 桜 "cherry" is indexed under the four-stroke radical 木 "tree".[34]

Other indexing methods include Jack Halpern's SKIP system, which classifies characters by their visual component pattern and stroke counts.[119]

Modern general-purpose Japanese dictionaries, as distinct from character dictionaries, normally arrange headwords by their kana readings in gojūon order.[9]

Kanji education

[edit]
An image that lists most jōyō-kanji, according to Halpern's KKLD indexing system, with kyo-iku kanji color-coded by grade level

Japanese elementary-school pupils are taught the 1,026 kyōiku kanji according to the grade-by-grade allocation table: 80 in the first grade, followed by 160, 200, 202, 193 and 191 in grades two through six. The curriculum also introduces the reading and writing of additional jōyō kanji in lower secondary school, but the official list is a guideline for written communication rather than a definition of complete literacy.[32][10]

Learners of Japanese as a foreign language use a range of approaches, including repeated handwriting, component analysis, vocabulary-based study and verbal or pictorial mnemonics. Research on kanji learning emphasizes that strategy choice varies with proficiency, prior knowledge of Chinese characters and the learning context.[120]

The Japan Kanji Aptitude Testing Foundation provides the Kanji kentei (日本漢字能力検定試験 Nihon kanji nōryoku kentei shiken; "Test of Japanese Kanji Aptitude"), which tests the ability to read and write kanji. The highest level of the Kanji kentei tests about six thousand kanji.[121]

See also

[edit]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ Particularly in "obscene imagery" (猥褻図画, waisetsu toga).
  2. ↑ The "box" meaning also happens to match the "black box" schema of a function.
  3. ↑ Variables were originally notated with 天 ('heaven') and 地 ('earth'), as in 天＝函（地）, equivalent to Loomis's u=f(x).

References

[edit]

Citations

[edit]
  1. ↑ "kanji". Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Merriam-Webster. OCLC 1032680871. Retrieved August 12, 2025.
  2. ↑ NHK Broadcasting Culture Research Institute, ed. (May 24, 2016). NHK日本語発音アクセント新辞典 (in Japanese). NHK Publishing.
  3. ↑ Kindaichi, Haruhiko; Akinaga, Kazue, eds. (April 1, 2025) [10 April 2014]. 新明解日本語アクセント辞典 (in Japanese) (2nd ed.). Chiyoda, Tokyo: Sanseido. p. 189. ISBN 978-4-385-13468-0.
  4. ↑ "漢字". デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). 小学館. Retrieved September 22, 2025. 中国語を表すため、漢民族の間に発生・発達した表意文字。
  5. ↑ "漢（かん）". デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). 小学館. Retrieved September 22, 2025. 中国本土や中国の異称。また、漢人・漢字・漢文など中国に関する事物をさす。
  6. ↑ Matsunaga, Sachiko (1996). "The Linguistic Nature of Kanji Reexamined: Do Kanji Represent Only Meanings?". The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese. 30 (2): 1–22. doi:10.2307/489563. ISSN 0885-9884. JSTOR 489563. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  7. ↑ Taylor, Insup; Taylor, Maurice Martin (1995). Writing and literacy in Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company. p. 305. ISBN 90-272-1794-7.
  8. ↑ McAuley, T. E.; Tranter, Nicolas (2001). Language change in East Asia. Richmond, Surrey: Curzon. pp. 180–204.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 Hasegawa, Yoko (2014). "The writing system". Japanese: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press. pp. 43–58. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139507127.006. ISBN 978-1-107-01649-1.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 常用漢字表 (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. November 30, 2010. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  11. 1 2 子の名に使える漢字 (in Japanese). Ministry of Justice. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  12. 1 2 「勒」の字、12月から子の名に使用可 人名用漢字に追加、863字から864字へ. Kumamoto Nichinichi Shimbun (in Japanese). June 26, 2026. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  13. ↑ Suski, P.M. (2011). The Phonetics of Japanese Language: With Reference to Japanese Script. Taylor & Francis. p. 1. ISBN 9780203841808.
  14. ↑ Malatesha Joshi, R.; Aaron, P.G. (2006). Handbook of orthography and literacy. New Jersey: Routledge. pp. 481–2. ISBN 0-8058-4652-2.
  15. 1 2 3 Miyake 2003, p. 8.
  16. ↑ Yamazaki, Kento (October 5, 2001). "Tawayama find hints kanji introduced in Yayoi Period". The Japan Times. Archived from the original on February 15, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2022.
  17. ↑ "Gold Seal (Kin-in)". Fukuoka City Museum. Archived from the original on February 26, 2017. Retrieved September 1, 2014.
  18. ↑ Miyake 2003, pp. 8–9.
  19. 1 2 3 Seeley, Christopher (1991). A History of Writing in Japan. Brill. ISBN 978-90-04-09081-1.
  20. ↑ Miyake 2003, p. 9.
  21. ↑ Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010). A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge University Press. pp. 11–24. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511778322. ISBN 978-0-521-65320-6.
  22. ↑ Frellesvig, Bjarke (2010). A History of the Japanese Language. Cambridge University Press. pp. 21–23. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511778322. ISBN 978-0-521-65320-6.
  23. ↑ Hadamitzky, Wolfgang and Spahn, Mark (2012), Kanji and Kana: A Complete Guide to the Japanese Writing System, Third Edition, Rutland, VT: Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 4805311169. p. 14.
  24. ↑ Seeley, Christopher (1991). A History of Writing in Japan. Brill. pp. 69–92. ISBN 978-90-04-09081-1.
  25. ↑ Tsukishima, Hiroshi (1997). "The Japanese language and the influence of Chinese". Proceedings of the Japan Academy, Series B. 73: 227–232. doi:10.2183/tja1948.51.227.
  26. ↑ Hasegawa, Yoko (2014). "The writing system". Japanese: A Linguistic Introduction. Cambridge University Press. pp. 43–58. doi:10.1017/CBO9781139507127.006. ISBN 978-1-107-01649-1.
  27. ↑ Gottlieb, Nanette (1991). Language and the Modern State: The Reform of Written Japanese. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-04969-6.
  28. ↑ Griolet, Pascal (May 30, 2013). "Language, script and modernity". Cipango - French Journal of Japanese Studies. English Selection (2). doi:10.4000/cjs.288. ISSN 2268-1744.
  29. ↑ "人名用漢字の新字旧字 第82回 「鉄」と「鐵」". 三省堂WORD-WISE WEB -Dictionaries & Beyond-. Sanseidō. February 24, 2011. Archived from the original on November 19, 2021. Retrieved August 14, 2015.
  30. ↑ Gottlieb, Nanette (1994). "Language and Politics: The Reversal of Postwar Script Reform Policy in Japan". The Journal of Asian Studies. 53 (4): 1175–1198. doi:10.2307/2059238. JSTOR 2059238.
  31. ↑ 表外漢字字体表 (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  32. 1 2 学年別漢字配当表 (in Japanese). Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  33. ↑ 表外漢字字体表 (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  34. 1 2 3 4 Lunde, Ken (2008). CJKV Information Processing (2nd ed.). O'Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0-596-51447-1.
  35. ↑ "JIS X 0221:2020". Japanese Standards Association. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  36. ↑ Lunde, Ken (1999). CJKV Information Processing. O'Reilly Media, Inc. ISBN 978-1-56592-224-2. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  37. ↑ Lunde, Ken (1999). CJKV Information Processing. O'Reilly Media, Inc. ISBN 978-1-56592-224-2. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved March 11, 2022.
  38. ↑ Introducing the SING Gaiji architecture, Adobe, archived from the original on October 17, 2015, retrieved October 18, 2015.
  39. ↑ OpenType Technology Center, Adobe, archived from the original on June 1, 2010, retrieved October 18, 2015.
  40. ↑ "Representation of Non-standard Characters and Glyphs", P5: Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange, TEI-C, archived from the original on December 11, 2011, retrieved December 26, 2011
  41. ↑ "TEI element g (character or glyph)", P5: Guidelines for Electronic Text Encoding and Interchange, TEI-C, archived from the original on January 5, 2012, retrieved December 26, 2011.
  42. ↑ Kuang-Hui Chiu, Chi-Ching Hsu (2006). Chinese Dilemmas : How Many Ideographs are Needed Archived July 17, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, National Taipei University
  43. ↑ Shouhui Zhao, Dongbo Zhang, The Totality of Chinese Characters—A Digital Perspective Archived September 12, 2016, at the Wayback Machine
  44. ↑ Daniel G. Peebles, SCML: A Structural Representation for Chinese Characters Archived March 10, 2016, at the Wayback Machine, May 29, 2007
  45. ↑ Lunde, Ken (2008). CJKV Information Processing (2nd ed.). O'Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0-596-51447-1.
  46. ↑ Verdonschot, R. G.; La Heij, W.; Tamaoka, K.; Kiyama, S.; You, W. P.; Schiller, N. O. (2013). "The multiple pronunciations of Japanese kanji: A masked priming investigation". The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology. 66 (10): 2023–38. doi:10.1080/17470218.2013.773050. PMID 23510000. S2CID 13845935.
  47. 1 2 3 常用漢字表の音訓索引 (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  48. ↑ Itō, Junko; Mester, Armin (2015). "Sino-Japanese phonology". In Kubozono, Haruo (ed.). Handbook of Japanese Phonetics and Phonology. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 289–312. doi:10.1515/9781614511984.289. ISBN 978-1-61451-198-4.
  49. ↑ 働 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  50. ↑ 腺 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  51. 1 2 3 あて字. Britannica International Encyclopaedia (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  52. ↑ 糎. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  53. ↑ 重箱読み. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  54. ↑ 湯桶読み. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  55. ↑ アイヌ語地名. 改訂新版 世界大百科事典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  56. 1 2 常用漢字表 (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Appendix. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  57. ↑ 義訓. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  58. ↑ 今日. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  59. ↑ 煙草. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  60. ↑ 兄弟. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  61. ↑ 啄木鳥. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  62. ↑ 馴鹿. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  63. ↑ 今日. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  64. ↑ 可愛い. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  65. ↑ 流行る. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  66. ↑ "Requirements for Japanese Text Layout". World Wide Web Consortium. §3.3 Ruby and Emphasis Dots. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  67. ↑ "Non-Japonic and other katakana kun'yomi in Unihan Database kJapanese" (PDF). Unicode Consortium. 2025. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  68. ↑ 名乗り. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  69. ↑ Itō, Junko; Mester, Armin (2015). "Sino-Japanese phonology". In Kubozono, Haruo (ed.). Handbook of Japanese Phonetics and Phonology. De Gruyter Mouton. pp. 289–312. doi:10.1515/9781614511984.289. ISBN 978-1-61451-198-4.
  70. ↑ 上手. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  71. ↑ 明日. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  72. ↑ 私立. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  73. ↑ 市立. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  74. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 大辞林 (in Japanese) (4th ed.). Sanseidō. 2019. ISBN 978-4-385-13906-7.
  75. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 広辞苑 (in Japanese) (7th ed.). Iwanami Shoten. 2018. ISBN 978-4-00-080131-7.
  76. ↑ Kenkyusha's New Japanese-English Dictionary
  77. ↑ 安い. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  78. ↑ 易い. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  79. ↑ 安かれ. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  80. ↑ 熱い. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  81. ↑ 暑い. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  82. ↑ 伯父. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  83. ↑ 伯母. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  84. ↑ 叔父. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  85. ↑ 叔母. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  86. ↑ 大和. 日本大百科全書 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  87. ↑ 才. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  88. ↑ 電話機. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  89. ↑ Senate (1877). 元老院會議筆記　自第四百六十号　至第五百号 (in Japanese). p. 33. 完全ナル法案ト考フレトモ一ノ貭問ヲ爲サン即チ第四十六條ノ傳話ハ傳達ノ傳ノ字ニシテ第四十九條ノ電話ハ雷電ノ電ノ字ナリ是レハ第四十六條ハ世間通常ノ飜譯文字ナル傳話機即チ「テレボン」ナルヤ本官ハ電氣ノ學ヲ知ラサルヲ以テ之ヲ質ス
  90. ↑ Shimada, Yutaka; Chinda, S., eds. (October 7, 1892) [8 June 1892]. "T.". A DICTIONARY of THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE; the WORDS AND DEFINITIONS BEING FOLLOWED by THEIR JAPANESE EQUIVALENTS. to which is added A COPIOUS APPENDIX. 雙解英和大辭典 [Bilingual English-Japanese Dictionary] (in Japanese) (2nd ed.). Shiba, Tokyo: The Kyoyekishosha. p. 906. Tĕlʹe-phōne, （名） An instrument for transmitting sounds, especially articulate speech, to a distance, by means of electricity and telegraphic wires.　傳話機．
    Tĕlʹe-phŏnʹic, （形） Conveying sounds to a great distance; far-sounding; of, or pertaining to, the telephone.　遠方ニ聲ヲ達スル，電話機ノ．
  91. ↑ Chen, Haijing (2014). "A Study of Japanese Loanwords in Chinese". University of Oslo. Archived from the original on September 12, 2021. Retrieved September 12, 2021.
  92. ↑ 電信機. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  93. ↑ 電報. コトバンク (in Japanese).
  94. ↑ Kōta, Osamu (April 2012). 近代日本における，函数の概念とそれに関連したことがらの受容と普及. 数理解析研究所講究録 (in Japanese). 1787. Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto University. ISSN 1880-2818.
  95. ↑ 数学セミナー編集部, ed. (April 1999). 当用漢字による書き替え. 数学の言葉づかい100　数学地方のおもしろ方言 (in Japanese). Nippon Hyoron sha. p. 5. ISBN 4-535-60613-7.
  96. ↑ Fukuhara, Masuo; et al. (December 15, 1981). 学校数学での用語と記号. In Tajima, Ichirō; Shimada, Shigeru (eds.). 数学と日本語 (in Japanese). Kyoritsu Shuppan. pp. 135–169. ISBN 4-320-01315-8.
  97. ↑ 地名. 改訂新版 世界大百科事典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  98. ↑ 阪神. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  99. ↑ 京成電鉄. 日本大百科全書 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  100. ↑ 名乗り. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  101. ↑ 戸籍に氏名のフリガナが記載されます (in Japanese). Ministry of Justice. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  102. ↑ よくあるご質問 (in Japanese). Ministry of Justice. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  103. ↑ 中国地名・人名の書き方の表 (in Japanese). Agency for Cultural Affairs. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  104. ↑ 台北. デジタル大辞泉 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  105. ↑ "Requirements for Japanese Text Layout". World Wide Web Consortium. §3.3 Ruby and Emphasis Dots. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  106. ↑ Lunde, Ken (2008). CJKV Information Processing (2nd ed.). O'Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0-596-51447-1.
  107. ↑ 国字. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  108. ↑ Lunde, Ken (2008). CJKV Information Processing (2nd ed.). O'Reilly Media. ISBN 978-0-596-51447-1.
  109. 1 2 国訓. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  110. ↑ 藤 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  111. ↑ 沖 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  112. ↑ 椿 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  113. ↑ 咲 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  114. 1 2 3 Yamashita, Hiroko; Maru, Yukiko (2000). "Compositional Features of Kanji for Effective Instruction". The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese. 34 (2): 159–178. doi:10.2307/489552. ISSN 0885-9884. JSTOR 489552. Archived from the original on December 2, 2022. Retrieved December 2, 2022.
  115. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Qiu, Xigui (2000). Chinese Writing. Translated by Mattos, Gilbert L.; Norman, Jerry. Society for the Study of Early China and Institute of East Asian Studies, University of California. ISBN 978-1-55729-071-7.
  116. ↑ "CJK Symbols and Punctuation". Unicode Consortium. Retrieved August 11, 2026.
  117. ↑ 々. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  118. ↑ 箇. 精選版 日本国語大辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved August 11, 2026 – via Kotobank.
  119. ↑ Halpern, Jack (2006). The Kodansha Kanji Learner's Dictionary (2nd ed.). Kodansha International. ISBN 978-1-56836-407-0.
  120. ↑ Rose, Heath (2017). The Japanese Writing System: Challenges, Strategies and Self-regulation for Learning Kanji. Multilingual Matters. ISBN 978-1-78309-817-0.
  121. ↑ Rose, Heath (June 5, 2017). The Japanese Writing System: Challenges, Strategies and Self-regulation for Learning Kanji. Multilingual Matters. pp. 129–130. ISBN 978-1-78309-817-0. Archived from the original on May 1, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2021.

Sources

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  • DeFrancis, John (1990). The Chinese Language: Fact and Fantasy. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1068-6.
  • Hadamitzky, W.; Spahn, M. (1981). Kanji and Kana. Boston: Tuttle.
  • Hannas, William C. (1997). Asia's Orthographic Dilemma. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press. ISBN 0-8248-1892-X.
  • Kaiser, Stephen (1991). "Introduction to the Japanese Writing System". Kodansha's Compact Kanji Guide. Tokyo: Kodansha International. ISBN 4-7700-1553-4.
  • Miyake, Marc Hideo (2003). Old Japanese: A Phonetic Reconstruction. New York, NY; London, England: RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN 0-415-30575-6.
  • Morohashi, Tetsuji. 大漢和辞典 Dai Kan-Wa Jiten (Comprehensive Chinese–Japanese Dictionary) 1984–1986. Tokyo: Taishukan.
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  • Unger, J. Marshall (1996). Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan: Reading Between the Lines. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-510166-9.
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Glyph conversion

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