漢字: Chinese characters as used in Japanese writing as opposed to the two kana syllabaries and romaji Latin letters.
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4answers
248 views
How to know what Okurigana signify? [closed]
For example, the kanji for "one" has a kun reading of "hito(tsu)." I looked it up and found that it's the difference between "one" and "one thing," but how could you have known that without ...
9
votes
4answers
594 views
What's with this “On reading”/“Kun reading” thing? Is it important to learn both as a beginner?
I was reading this article on Japanese numerals and I first encountered the whole On reading/Kun reading thing, with an additional column on "Preferred reading," which was almost always the On ...
5
votes
2answers
235 views
Does the kanji 妾 still get used by women to refer to themselves?
In this answer, the kanji 妾 was defined as "mistress".
I'm not so familiar with this kanji, so I looked it up, and it seems to have about four readings and two definitions. Although I think some of ...
4
votes
2answers
153 views
不被下候: When was it common, and what were the rules?
In a shrine graffito written in 1559, two carpenters complain:
其時座主ハ大キナコスデオチヤリテ一度モ焼酎ヲ不被下候
'At that time, the high priest (stingy bugger!) gave us not even a drop of shochu to drink.'
The form ...
6
votes
1answer
233 views
Katakana words with Kanji. How did that happen?
Some words are written with katakana, but also have kanji. For example:
コーヒー 珈琲
ページ 頁
How did this happen? They are loanwords, but no doubt had Japanese equivalents before these variants were ...
10
votes
4answers
2k views
Japanese kanji with different meanings in Chinese
湯 in Japanese refers to "hot water." In Chinese, it means "soup." How common are kanji with different meanings in Chinese? Also, why do differences occur in the first place? Were the meanings in both ...
0
votes
1answer
730 views
Why did the author use hiragana instead of kanji in the following examples? (長い,幼い)
Could someone please explain why someone would use hiragana instead of the regular kanji?
For instance, we have a character for nagai - 長い, but examples using ながい can also be found in dictionaries ...
10
votes
4answers
353 views
What determines whether a word gets a kanji compound or katakana?
I read electronics/computing articles, and I find an incredible amount of terms are written either in kanji (almost similar to Chinese) or katakana. There are times when it's confusing as to know why. ...
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
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 ...
1
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2answers
134 views
Meaning of given character
I was just wondering the character shown in image is Japanese or not. If yes then can you please tell me the meaning of it.
12
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2answers
544 views
How close was the Japanese writing system from becoming abolished after World War II?
I remember hearing that the Japanese government planned on abolishing the use of Chinese characters entirely after World War II. I also remember hearing that there was a movement by the American ...
3
votes
2answers
712 views
How and when do Japanese children learn kanas and kanji?
I wonder how exactly Japanese children learn to write. It may help a foreigner to know what is important to memorize or not. The only thing I know is that first of all, hiragana are learnt, and then ...
6
votes
1answer
142 views
Which つける do I use?
So I looked up つける and saw it can be written as:
付ける
着ける
附ける
And they all seem to have the exact same definition: to attach, to join, to add, to append, etc. So are these "spellings" ...
7
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
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? ...
2
votes
2answers
795 views
Can Hiragana or Katakana stand alone?
Writing Japanese requires a mix of Kanji and Hiragana, usually some Katakana as well.
I have read that some Kanji characters can be replaced with Hiragana characters for easier writing.
My question ...
4
votes
1answer
85 views
Why does 音物【いんもつ】 contain 音?
When looking up the definition of 音物 (a present or a bribe), I thought it was very odd that it contained the kanji 音. I can't think of what 音 (sound) could have to do with presents or bribes.
Is ...
9
votes
2answers
197 views
Kanji 何: why is it missing in 今なにしてる (facebook text in status editbox)?
I had the impression that 何 is pretty common kanji and that it is used in situations as above (after all, 今 is there, so it is not that it wanted to be hiragana-only). Do I understand it right that it ...
5
votes
1answer
166 views
understanding hōgejaku — an archaic imperative?
I would like to understand this Zen calligraphy:
...
3
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1answer
269 views
Ruby text in Documents
Note: I know they might not strictly be interchangeable, but I might end up using "Furigana" and "Ruby text" in an interchangeable manner in this question.
Hi all,
I'm in the process of writing a ...
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 ...
9
votes
2answers
224 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 ...
3
votes
1answer
138 views
kanji composition question — why these radicals for 出?
My explanatory Kanji dictionary lists 山 and 冂 as radicals used in 出. I see how the first one would be used, but cannot understand the reasoning for the second one.
I see two alternatives:
冂 is ...
4
votes
3answers
186 views
What differences, if any, are there between 婦 and 女?
I came across 婦 from this English-language Wikipedia article.
Jisho.org says that 婦 (which contains 女 in it) can mean married woman, but it can mean woman or lady, and it then lists words such as 婦警 ...
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 ...
5
votes
1answer
195 views
Why does furigana occasionally appear as katakana?
I've seen some kanji whose furigana is actually katakana. For example, see the following manga cover for 桜蘭高校ホスト部. When would a kanji character ever be pronounced as a loan word?
4
votes
2answers
695 views
Which kanji has the greatest number of strokes?
I was just curious what the most complex kanji—in terms of number of strokes—is, whether or not it's actually used often.
11
votes
4answers
556 views
Are there any old loanwords from Korean, especially any not written in katakana?
Given the close proximity and long history of interaction of various kinds within East Asia, the great influence of Chinese in both Japanese and Korean, and the similar structures of Japanese and ...
4
votes
6answers
717 views
What Does 火信 Mean?
I saw 火信 tattooed on a gentleman's neck. I looked up the words, but couldn't make sense of their combination...
What does it mean?
12
votes
2answers
667 views
Which kanji to use for saying ありがとうございます in emails?
When sending emails, I've noticed that Japanese colleagues use all sorts of kanji/kana combinations for the simple phrases ありがとうございました and よろしくおねがいいたします.
For example:
ありがとうございました
有難うございました
...
8
votes
2answers
186 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?
13
votes
2answers
319 views
When writing for general public, is there a general guideline for selecting kanji?
After reading numerous publications, I've spotted a trend or custom on determining whether kanji is or is not used for certain words. The most obvious ones are:
こと・事
…が実は犯人だったということがわかる。
...
5
votes
1answer
117 views
Are the two kanjis 箇所 and 個所 interchange?
Our customer uses 箇所 but my manager uses 個所 when emailing project status. Are both kanji interchangeable?
The context of usage in a sentence is:
一箇所変更しました。
A portion (of the code/software) ...
1
vote
1answer
183 views
What is the difference with 引充 and 引当
I do usually encounter the kanji 引当 but I suddenly encountered the 引充 kanji. My colleague said they mean the same and their reading is the same. when do you use the one over the other?
The word that ...
9
votes
2answers
398 views
How do I look up this kanji?
I have found a kanji in a manga I am attempting to read, that looks like this:
I have tried to find it in numerous dictionaries, and multiple different methods. I know the third section is a radical, ...
11
votes
3answers
866 views
About writing numbers using Japanese numerals vs using Arabic numerals
I noticed that even though Japanese language has kanji characters for numbers (e.g. 十、百、千、万 etc), there are many places where Arabic numerals are used instead, for example, prices for shop items are ...
11
votes
4answers
203 views
History of 十干（じっかん）and modern uses
As I was studying vocabulary today, I happened to come across the titular 十干 which are as follows:
甲（こう）• 乙（おつ）• 丙（へい）• 丁（てい） •戊（ぼ）• 己（き）• 庚（こう）• 辛（しん）• 壬（じん）• 癸（き）
There's a somewhat lengthy ...
6
votes
2answers
372 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
...
7
votes
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).
...
3
votes
1answer
139 views
What is the proper term for the use of archaic kanji?
I noticed that in various works of Japanese art, the artists sign their work with a seal whose contents range from fairly regular kanji to very abstract variations of kanji. I have also seen it used ...
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 ...
13
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2answers
303 views
Why does 語 contain 五?
I'm aware the two kanji are often pronounced the same, but why does one contain the other in it?
3
votes
1answer
185 views
The gender of 子
Is 子 ever used to refer to a boy, or is it always used for girls? Is 悪い子 used only for girls?
6
votes
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 ...
4
votes
2answers
98 views
What is the nuance of 解{げ}す？
Today in my JLPT text book, I came across the word 解{げ}す.
I know that the kanji 解 means "unravel", and it can be read 解{わか}る, and with that reading it's synonymous with 分{わ}かる, "to understand".
When ...
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
votes
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 ...
4
votes
1answer
129 views
“Dive” = “fly into”?
The words 飛ぶ and 跳ぶ are both read as とぶ, the former meaning "to fly" and the latter meaning "to jump" (generally; don't know if they are interchangeable at all).
The compound-verb suffix 〜込【こ】む means ...
1
vote
2answers
205 views
Which kana/kanji are used to write Yoshitoshi's death poem?
Browsing for art late at night, I came across this beautiful poem by Yoshitoshi, said to be his death poem:
yo o tsumete
terimasarishi wa
natsu no tsuki
translated as:
holding back ...
