Questions tagged [kanji]
漢字. Chinese characters as used in Japanese writing as opposed to the two kana syllabaries and rōmaji (Latin letters).
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Can someone please tell what it says here? [on hold]
Years ago my Kendo sensei gave me this as present, 'cause I was leaving the academy, so I never really used it. And now I wanted to hang it on my wall but every person that sees it ask me what it says....
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4answers
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Why is 日本 read as “nihon” but not “nitsuhon”?
If I want to say only 日本 in a sentence then each character is pronounced in its onyomi version isn't it? If this is an exception and one (or all) of the characters is not pronounced in onyomi version ...
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1answer
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Are 变 and 変 the same?
Is there a difference between 变 and 変 or are they different versions of the same thing i.e. traditional/simplified?
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1answer
108 views
The kanji for suika and kabocha
I was able to translate as west melon and south melon. The melon part makes sense, but why were directions used? I saw the sui (water) kanji for watermelon, but it is no longer used.
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Can someone help me figure out what 考えを示しましたが is supposed to mean?
This entry is hard to find on the web. I've only found 2 entries:
1)【that以下】という考えを示す reveal one's idea that
2) 考えを示す to state one's opinion
立花氏は来週にもＮＨＫに出向いて受信契約をする考えを示しましたが、「契約する義務はあるが、支払いは義務ではない」...
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1answer
58 views
Reading kanjis Kunyomi or onyomi [duplicate]
I know use onyomi and kunyomi for kanjis but i confused for use other means of kanjis for example 日 this kanji means sun,day
Kunyomi:ひ,び,か
Onyomi:にち,じつ
This example 昨日 means さくじつ why isn't use にち ...
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1answer
114 views
Any help recognising a handwritten kanji?
I've recently gotten into translating fancomics for a manga, although I'm still a beginner at Japanese. Naturally, I don't really know my kanji and I have to rely on a lot of looking up radical and ...
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2answers
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On-/Kun-yomi & Hiragana/Katakana
fellow Japanese lovers! I've been studying Japanese on my own for a few months, and have reached the point where I have a question that I can't find decisively asked or answered anywhere. I'm hoping ...
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2answers
778 views
Can 々 stand for a duplicated kanji with a different reading?
The title may not be so clear, here is what I mean:
々 is used to avoid repeating a kanji. In some cases, the two may not be pronounced the same because the first consonant of the second kanji is ...
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1answer
96 views
Up-to-date list of Kyōiku kanji?
According to Wikipedia, the kyōiku kanji covers 1,006 characters. There's also a reference link to the Ministry of Education - Japan that seems to confirm this number.
However, I recently picked up ...
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1answer
106 views
Reading per kanji / irregular readings
My question essentially boils down to the following: Is it always possible to assign a (regular / irregular) reading to a single kanji within some word?
It is related to this post: Kanji that don'...
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1answer
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I need help finding this kanji [closed]
It looks something like this, but I can't seem to find it anywhere.
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1answer
96 views
ほうをかす lend a hou [closed]
I was watching another 45 second video, same theme as the last one about 'Illegal uploads', but ran into some trouble with the above. I will post the entire subtitles for context purposes.
違法だよ！あげるくん
...
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1answer
107 views
Is there any rule for hiraganas after the kanji in a verb
The hiraganas go after the kanji in a verb are so confusing.
I know there's always an U character, like 行く, 話す ... but sometimes i see there are 2 characters after the kanji, like 終わる.
My question is ...
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Why does 生 change pronunciation. e.g. 生 = nama but 生きて＝ ikite [duplicate]
I am currently teaching myself japanese and I was listening to a japanese song and one of the words in that song was 生きて and as I am learning, I wanted to see what the first letter meant (or radical, ...
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1answer
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Is reasonable to assume that the 食 in 月食/日食 can be interpreted as the sun/moon being “eaten” during an eclipse?
So I'm quite new to Japanese, and I'm having a blast being able to understand some basic compound words based on individual kanji, and in some cases the process is quite straightforward. However, I ...
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1answer
144 views
Use of Kanji characters
Why are Kanji characters used along with Hirangana script characters for a word? For example: 飲みますwhich is spelled as nomimasu (correct me if I'm wrong) uses a kanji character. Why can't の be used ...
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1answer
228 views
Why don't the characters used for Japanese Kanji have the same meaning as those used in Chinese? (Chinese-Japanese false friends)
There are many words in French that are spelled identically to or very similarly to English words but the meanings are not the same. These words are called faux-amis (false friends) because they trick ...
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1answer
92 views
What is written on my mug? [closed]
I was able to identify 弐 (alternative form of 二 used on legal documents, according to Jisho.org), but I still can't identify the others, in order to know what is written there
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2answers
179 views
How to determine the meaning of a Kanji?
I just finished studying Heisig's "Remembering the Kanji".
I would often look up Kanji in order to figure out their meaning when the English keyword was ambiguous.
To my surprise, many of the keywords ...
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1answer
100 views
Is the reading 腹【なか】 neither an on-yomi nor a kun-yomi?
currently trying hard to refresh my Kanji skills and stumbled over
お腹 == おなか
To my surprise none of the Kanji dictionaries list the reading なか for this Kanji. Only フク and はら. Is there a third ...
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1answer
77 views
Partial ひらがな sentences
I was watching a news broadcast on YouTube and when it moved over to the weather report, I noticed that 「今日の天気」was actually written as 「きょうの天気」. Also 「明日の天気」was also written as 「あすの天気」. It wasn't just ...
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1answer
233 views
What's the origin of the title 親王?
As far as I know, prior to the adoption of the title "Emperor" in ancient China by Shihuangdi (who claimed to be the first 皇帝 (huangdi), from the titles of 8 ancient godly beings), 王 was the sole ...
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1answer
82 views
Determine the correct reading of a word made up from kanjis
Supposed I know some kanjis and their reading, and come across a word I don't know yet that's made up from these kanjis, how do I determine the correct reading?
Example:
大好き - daisuki
大きい - ookii
...
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1answer
299 views
Has anyone come across the word 畸端?
I've started reading my first Japanese book and the word 畸端検査官 keeps popping up. I know 検査官 means inspector, but I can't find a reference anywhere to 畸端.
Can anyone help?
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0answers
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Variants of kanji radicals indicating Joyo vs Non-Joyo [duplicate]
I noticed that there is a variant of the 之繞 radical ⻌ which occurs in some words but not others. The variant is 辶 (with an extra stroke). It appears in words like 逢う and 槌.
It turns out that Non-Joyo ...
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1answer
106 views
A Question while reading mangas
I love to read manga, and I am always confused when a character uses a spell, and a T/N is written somewhere stating the literal meaning.
Example is when Mad Hatter (From Gaitou Alice) uses a spell, ...
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1answer
109 views
Help identifying a Kanji character from image
I've been struggling to identify this Kanji for 30 minutes now. Tried looking up radicals, stroke order, etc. but can't figure it out.
More context:
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1answer
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Meaning of 水洗式 other than flush toilet
In an article about penetrant testing (浸透探傷検査) I found the following sentence:
浸透液は水洗式でハケ塗りとし，極力溶接部以外に浸透液が付着しないようにすること．
In this kind of test, a penetrant liquid is used on a surface (in this case ...
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81 views
さえなっている even becoming [closed]
I am having difficulty figuring out the meaning of this sentence.
This is from a Pokémon commercial which is 30 seconds long. I am posting the full transcript and a translation I received just for ...
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2answers
340 views
What are these Japanese characters which look like an 'S' and a small 'n'?
What are these Japanese characters?
looks like 'n'
looks like 'S'
I have seen these characters in plenty of untranslated manga, but I haven't been able to find those two letters anywhere.
Does ...
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1answer
148 views
Is there a common etymology for the kanji 巳 and 己 and 已?
The three characters 巳 and 己 and 已 are visually very similar, but do they have a common etymology or any overlap in terms of semantic content?
Any information would be appreciated.
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Why do so many kanji for body parts have the radical 「月」？ [duplicate]
What is the etymological reason for words like 胸, 肘, 腹, 腕, and 脚 to have 月?
Is it phonetic at all or does it contribute meaning?
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1answer
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How do you say lychee? Does it have a kanji as well? [closed]
I can’t seem to find any information on it other than “ライチ” but I only found that from one website.:/
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3answers
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What is the 中 in ダウンロード中？
I was downloading an update for a phone game I set in Japanese and on the screen it said 「ダウンロード中」and I don’t understand the use of 中. Middle? In the middle of downloading?
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2answers
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Are there any words which use 'カ', the on-yomi of 何?
I started finally learning kanji's readings not only meanings and words. And in two sources I use I see that 何's kun'yomi is なん、なに and on' is カ.
I've seen 何 in many words as
なん: 何度、何と、何で
なに: 何人、何か
...
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1answer
158 views
How many Joyo (and perhaps Jinmeiyo) Kanji have only one onyomi?
I feel this is really beneficial to have a list for in my studies. The reason is if I see an unknown word that I'm reasonably sure has onyomi readings, if the kanji in question have only one possible ...
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1answer
268 views
っていうことになったんですけど - meaning?
I had just received a somewhat rushed 'transliteration' of a 1 minute video. To me, Shigeru Miyamoto speaks in a way which is extremely difficult to understand. I am adding the full transcript just ...
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1answer
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Meaning of けらている
From a song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5T-L0b43no
Bolded parts are what I'm struggling with with.
あたしは目を瞑って静かに座っているのに
なぜかのけらているようなそんな浮遊感だ
It looks like 浮遊感 means "floating/drifting ...
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4answers
202 views
Is it acceptable to learn just one pronunciation for each kanji? [closed]
I just want to learn one pronunciation for each kanji because I want to write them with the keyboard. Or do I have to learn all the pronounciation for the kanji?
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1answer
256 views
How to say “Developer” In Japanese?
I want to know how to say Developer in Japanese. By Developer, Specifically a web Developer, Programmer or Coder.
When I googled it initially, I got:
デベロッパー
And then I found a Kanji:
開発者
I ...
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1answer
67 views
Is there a specific reading for 常訓 and 常音?
Is there a specific reading for 常訓 and 常音? I see this in an electronic dictionary to indicate on'yomi and kun'yomi reading of kanjis. What I struggle to find is the meaning of the combination of both ...
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0answers
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How to describe switching individual 漢字？ [duplicate]
Apologies if this question title is vague but, is there a word in Japanese that describes a new word which is formed by switching the 漢字 around?
e.g
例文 -> 文例
運命 -> 命運
合併 -> 併合
How do ...
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0answers
43 views
着 vs 衣 to refer to gi?
When would I use 着（ki) as opposed to 衣 (i) to refer to a karate gi (空手着 or 空手衣)?
As I understand it, 着 refers to something you wear, literally being used as a noun for "suit of clothes" and being ...
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3answers
267 views
Kanji etymology of 毎?
what does 母 have to do with 毎? is there any link at all or did it come together randomly? does it have to do with the Chinese pronunciation?
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1answer
274 views
An uncommon variant of 写
I ran into the sentence below. The meaning is clear and when copying and pasting the kanji I get: 写. I wonder how common such a form of the kanji is. Is it just a different font?
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1answer
110 views
Why are some names pronounced differently from their on-yomi and kun-yomi?
I'm learning how Japanese names work for a story I'm writing and creating names is one of the most fun things I've done in some time. However, it comes with a share of frustrations. One for me is that ...
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0answers
147 views
Help identifying a handwritten character [closed]
I've had trouble identifying this certain character:
I find it pretty difficult to discern the individual strokes and components. Is it uncommon or are my eyes just bad?
EDIT: The sentence goes 合同⭕...
2
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1answer
459 views
Morning, Afternoon, Night Kanji
Learning the time of day I found that 朝 or あさ means morning, 昼 or ひる means afternoon, and 晚 I expected to be night but Google translate is saying it's moth for some reason. Does this 晚 only mean night ...
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1answer
169 views
Having Trouble Identifying This Character (or Characters?) [closed]
I've been staring at this part of a section I'm trying to read, and it's the latter part that has me thoroughly stumped:
While I can suss out the first two characters (pretty sure it's "倒壊"), I can't ...
