漢字: Chinese characters as used in Japanese writing as opposed to the two kana syllabaries and romaji Latin letters.
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2answers
316 views
do people actually respect the nuances of 探す vs 捜す?
Part 1
I understand 探す to be to search for something (general)
and 捜す to be to search for something lost
But do people actually care about the difference in nuance when they use it?
I mean do ...
9
votes
4answers
237 views
How to understand 抄 in Japanese?
In the names of cartoon movies 桜花抄, 百鬼夜行抄, what's the special meaning of 抄? Kind of synonym of 物語?
9
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3answers
316 views
Nuance, usage and etymology of お[出]{い}で
I observed in drama and anime (being outside Japan, those are my only ways of keeping in touch with spoken 日本語) that elder people sometimes say お出で to younger people when they want to say something ...
9
votes
2answers
241 views
Is the 強い with a ロ instead of ム on top a valid kanji in Japanese?
I don't know how to intentionally write the kanji that way, but on my ubuntu system 強い sometimes gets rendered that way.
What I'd like to know first if it's incorrect or if it's some rare but still ...
9
votes
1answer
253 views
What does さようなら (左様なら) have to do with “left”?
What is the relationship between 左様なら and 左? I assume there's some idiomatic meaning for "left" but how does it fit?
9
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2answers
458 views
I can't stand 立つ【た・つ】: Do all its meanings derive from “stand”?
I have an issue with the word 立{た}つ, which is that I get it's basic meaning is "to stand", but I see it used in all sorts of ways that don't make sense to me.
Here are some examples, from various ...
9
votes
1answer
352 views
Which is the “official” kanji for さい, 歳 or 才 ?
Well if I'm not wrong, usually when a word has multiple kanji's one of them is selected as the "main" or more commonly used one.
But is it true that both 才 and 歳 are both the "main" kanji for さい?
9
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1answer
139 views
What is the connection between shrimp and old age?
Shrimp(えび) is written several different ways in Japanese. For example, there are the words commonly used in Chinese: 蝦 and 鰕. There is also a compound specific to Japan, 海老, and a kokuji, 蛯. Both of ...
9
votes
1answer
223 views
On the replacing of kanji obsoleted in the 1946 reforms with similar-looking kanji.
This is my understanding but please correct me if some of my details are wrong:
In 1946 the Japanese language underwent a reform and standardization process
A subset of kanji (about 1850) were made ...
9
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2answers
256 views
About ご[馳走]{ちそう}: two “runs” would give you “a feast”?
ご[馳走様]{ちそうさま}でした is the greeting that people say after being treat a meal while ご馳走 by itself means “a feast”.
I looked up this word in the dictionary to learn more about the kanji characters. It ...
9
votes
2answers
223 views
Difference between 丸い and 円い
Both come up with the same reading and definition in Jisho.org (round/circular), and both are listed as common words. Is there any preference between the two or should I simply learn both as ...
9
votes
1answer
205 views
How did 家, 手, and 士 come to be included in the names of professions?
When I look at the words for professions, there are usually kanji such as 員、者、長、師、屋 and such, that end the name. These appear to make sense to me; however, what about ones such as 家、手、and 士?
For ...
8
votes
6answers
776 views
Why are there 3 ways of writing in Japanese?
Why are there kanji, hiragana and katakana? Is there a logical reason behind this or just tradition?
8
votes
2answers
185 views
What's the difference between differences? 差 and 違い
What's the difference between 差 and 違い? When would I use each?
Which (if either) would I use for describing the difference between something like sample data and the best fitting equation?
8
votes
2answers
292 views
Splitting Kanji and okurigana at the end of the line
A question was asked on the Linguistics Stack Exchange about the oriental languages. The title was the following: How are line breaks handled in ideographic scripts?
The answer made me think, and I ...
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votes
4answers
422 views
How can I learn and recall okurigana?
As time goes on in our age of increasing reliance on computerized kanji input, this question may become increasingly irrelevant, but when I'm writing a sentence with (gasp!) pen and paper, I have ...
8
votes
1answer
349 views
Why censor this one kanji?
I was watching an old Saturday Night Live sketch from the 1970s, called Night of the Moonies, making fun of the Unification Church by putting them in the context of the movie Night of the Living Dead.
...
8
votes
1answer
290 views
How is 名 pronounced in computer terms?
For usernames, etc., you usually see like ユーザ名 or something similar. Or like on my Skype, it says Skype名. How is the 名 pronounced in these situations? I've never been able to conclusively find this ...
8
votes
1answer
168 views
Why is 「人口」 used to denote population?
I'm just curious at the appearance of 「口」 that makes this word mean "population". Why should it be 「口」 as opposed to any other body part or anything else? Is there a definitive reason or story ...
8
votes
1answer
115 views
question about kanji sports names 蹴球, 籠球, 庭球, and 野球
A few questions about these words. The words [蹴球]{しゅうきゅう}, [籠球]{ろうきゅう}, and [庭球]{ていきゅう} mean football, basketball, and tennis, respectively. But I have only seen them in a dictionary, and in practice ...
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votes
1answer
216 views
Change of kanji like 大坂 to 大阪
Wikipedia says that Osaka used to be spelt 大坂, and is now spelt 大阪. Is there a term for what happened, and does it happen often?
Related question: On the replacing of kanji obsoleted in the 1946 ...
8
votes
1answer
133 views
What is the difference between 恰好 and 格好?
Is there any difference between the words 格好 and 恰好? Can I actually call them different words, or is it that they are just the same word written differently? I've been told that they have exactly the ...
8
votes
1answer
182 views
Kanji use in these words, 今 vs 未
I'm learning vocabulary from 日本語総まとめN2. In one section they describe four words and group them together (I assume because they have slightly different meanings but somewhat similar). They group them ...
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votes
1answer
164 views
Separate kanji for おそい when referring to being late and being slow
The i-adjective はやい can refer to being fast or being early, but each of the meanings has affinity towards separate kanji: 速い (fast) and 早い (early). Yet, while it's not surprising that the antonyms of ...
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votes
1answer
300 views
What is the role of 空書 (writing kanji in the air) in modern Japanese?
What is the role of 空書{くうしょ} in modern Japanese?
空書 is tracing characters in the air with your finger (or on a flat surface), a phenomenon which apparently develops only in users of Chinese ...
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votes
7answers
699 views
What are the advantages/disadvantages of writing in romaji instead of kanji, hiragana, and so on?
Romaji is somewhat of a conversion from kanji, hiragana, and so on to the Roman alphabet.
What are the disadvantages of learning only or mostly romaji aside from being unable to read/write in kanji? ...
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votes
3answers
1k views
Can I write Japanese name “Midori” this way - 緑?
There is female Japanese name "Midori," and I want to know the ways I can write it. I know it means "green," but maybe the name and "green" are different words sometimes.
I used google-translator to ...
7
votes
2answers
403 views
Can kanji-heavy Japanese be easily translated into Chinese?
How much is changed or lost in translating (say) an old Japanese text that's mainly written in kanji into hanzi? How does it compare to translating into a completely foreign language like English? I'm ...
7
votes
3answers
282 views
うるさい written as 五月蝿い
This is a follow-up question to Does うるさい have a "negative" connotation.
I've seen うるさい written as 五月蝿い.
現代では、is this form used often / at all?
What does this have to do with flies (蝿【はえ】) in May? ...
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votes
3answers
683 views
What are the differences/characteristics between katakana, kanji and hiragana?
I already know that romaji is the conversion from those to the roman alphabet, so which are the differences or characteristics between those?
Are they used on a different context? Is one of them more ...
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votes
2answers
191 views
Why are furigana for number kanji almost always omitted?
Here's an example sentence from 北斗の拳 which uses a fair amount of furigana throughout.
xxxに残された命は三日...
Which includes furigana for のこ, いのち, and, bafflingly, even the か of 日, but none for 三. While ...
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votes
1answer
297 views
Why is there a 分 in 自分?
I didn't find anywhere why is the minute's kanji there in 自分? Is it because a meaning of 分 is "part". Please clarify.
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2answers
249 views
Were women unable to learn kanji during the Heian era?
I've read that The Tale of Genji, and similar Heian-era novels such as The Pillow Book, and The Gossamer Years were predominantly or exclusively hiragana, which is also called "women's writing" (女手).
...
7
votes
2answers
236 views
When to use 聴く vs 聞く vs 訊く?
When should one use 聴く instead of 聞く? Is there a precise rule for which one to use in which situation?
I have a feeling that 聞 is used more when the source of the sound is a person or other living ...
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votes
3answers
308 views
Is 日語 a good two-kanji stand-in for 日本語 (“Japanese language”)?
This is a bit of an ad hoc question, but still should be well within the scope of JLU, so here goes:
While trying to come up with ideas for our new logo in the meta group (subliminal message: go and ...
7
votes
1answer
103 views
Usage of 腱 vs 筋
What is the difference between the following characters: 腱 vs 筋 （すじ）
Both translate to tendon (as in the connective tissue between muscles and bones)
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votes
2answers
166 views
Using appropriate old characters with people's names
What is the general etiquette about about using the newer characters （新字体） or even a more modern version of the old character (旧字体） when used in names? Is it generally considered rude?
For example, ...
7
votes
1answer
298 views
Are there no rounded or circular strokes in any 漢字？
Forgive me if this question seems foolish, but perhaps curiosity has gotten the best of me 'cause I am asking away. Every time I sit down to practice some good ol' kanji writing, I can't help but ...
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votes
1answer
748 views
Common 四字熟語 that use/are 当て字
Are there any commonly used known 四字熟語 that use/are 当て字 besides the following? Just crossed my mind, and now I'm curious.
滅茶苦茶 (めちゃくちゃ), 夜露死苦 (よろしく), 無理矢理 (むりやり)
6
votes
8answers
465 views
The many ways to write {かっこいい}
Apparently there are so many ways to write {かっこいい}.
Hiragana/katakana only:
かっこいい
カッコいい
カッコイイ
EDICT:
格好いい
かっこ好い
Other possible variants:
格好良い
かっこ良い
カッコ良い
格好好い
恰好いい ...
6
votes
2answers
177 views
Understanding of the character 叉
I see the character 叉 in a lot of words that do not seem to have anything in common:
[夜叉]{やしゃ}
[三叉路]{さんさろ}
[叉焼]{チャーシュー}
[音叉]{おんさ}
Is there any commonality here? What does 叉 ...
6
votes
2answers
262 views
Which kanji for はじめます? There seem to be two
I thought the kanji for はじめます was:
始めます
However, one of my friends tweeted using 初:
トマト鍋初めて食べたけどおいしかった
Which is correct? Is there a difference in nuance between the two? jisho.org brings ...
6
votes
2answers
371 views
Significance of the kanji 茶 in the set phrase 滅茶滅茶{めちゃめちゃ} / 目茶目茶{めちゃめちゃ}
While having fun looking up random words in my dictionary software, I found out that the phrase "めちゃめちゃ", which is often used in colloquial sentences like "めちゃめちゃかわいい" has two kanji variants:
滅茶滅茶
...
6
votes
2answers
180 views
What is the difference between 蔵, 倉, and 庫?
The word 【くら】 can be written with any of the kanji 蔵, 倉, or 庫. However, WWWJDIC lists them all under one entry, defined as:
(n) warehouse; cellar; magazine; granary; godown; depository; treasury; ...
6
votes
2answers
408 views
How to write “eastern Tokyo” (or “northern Hokkaido”)
While chatting with a friend about meeting up in eastern Tokyo, I typed in ひがしとうきょう and my Mac dutifully sent 東東京 out the wire. I quickly clarified with ひがし東京 just so she wouldn't think I had made a ...
6
votes
1answer
207 views
When are 止める, 停める and 留める read as とめる, やめる or とどめる?
When are 止める, 停める and 留める read as とめる or とどめる (and in the case of 止める, やめる)?
I think 止めてください could be read as both やめてください and とめてください, which I think could maybe be translated as "cut it out" and ...
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2answers
384 views
6
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1answer
164 views
What does 台 mean when proceeded by a number (of yen)
I came across this phrase in a news article about a budget reduction:
．．．．６千億円台になる．．．．
I was wondering what this use of 台 means. I did a Google search of 円台 and the amount of yen doesn't seem to ...
6
votes
1answer
202 views
What are the Japanese terms for “character dictionary”? “漢辞海”? “漢字典”?
I'm looking for a cheap secondhand character dictionary in Japan but:
I don't know if there is one or more kind of these, and I don't know what they are called.
Two I saw had these on their spines, ...
6
votes
1answer
217 views
Why do some kanji have furigana that are not valid readings?
In my text I read the sentence:
あなたが体験したよりもっと[巨]{おお}きく、もっと深くさせてくれる力があるからだ。
(furigana is from the text)
I understand 大きく, and I understand some words with 巨 like 巨大. However, when I looked up ...
