Kanji kentei- "test of knowledge of Japanese kanji" (日本 漢字 能力 検 定 試 験 Nihon kanji no: ryoku kentei shiken) tests the ability to read, translate and write kanji. It is conducted by the Japanese government and serves to test the knowledge of students in schools and universities in Japan. Contains 10 main levels, the most difficult of which tests your knowledge of 6000 kanji.
A test has been created for foreigners Noryoku shiken JLPT. Until 2009 inclusive, it contained 4 levels, the most difficult of which tested the knowledge of 1926 kanji. At the moment, the test includes 5 levels. A new level was added between the previous levels 2 and 3, as the gap between them was very large before. Thus, the new level 5 corresponds to the previous level 4, and the new level 4 corresponds to the previous level 3.
Kanji dictionaries
To find the desired kanji in the dictionary, you need to know its key and the number of features. The Chinese character can be broken down into simple components called keys (less commonly, "radicals"). If there are many keys in a hieroglyph, one basic is taken (it is determined according to special rules), and then the desired hieroglyph is searched for in the key section by the number of strokes. For example, the kanji for "mother" (媽) should be found in the section with a three-dash key (女) among the characters consisting of 13 strokes.
There are 214 classic keys in modern Japanese. In electronic dictionaries, it is possible to search not only by the main key, but by all possible components of the hieroglyph, the number of lines or by reading.
The meaning of hieroglyphs
Chinese hieroglyph tattoo
Zi is the name of the traditional Chinese script used in writing official documents in Hong Kong, Taiwan and other Chinese settlements. The Chinese "alphabet" (let's call it that conditionally) contains 47,000 letters-symbols tzu. In order to improve the literacy of the population, the government passed a law to simplify the writing system. Many dashes, sticks and dots have disappeared from everyday life. The Chinese themselves say that it only takes 4,000 characters to speak and write fluently in Chinese. Yes, hieroglyphs are really difficult to write and translate. However, there is already a definite trend for tattoos. The most popular and demanded hieroglyphs for tattoos are symbols that mean love, strength, family, luck, peace, fire. This does not mean that your choice is limited to only these words. With the help of Chinese tattoos, you can express your positive or negative emotions, inspire yourself with encouraging words, or capture a pleasant moment in your memory.
Tattoo hieroglyphs: meaning of katay hieroglyphs
Japanese hieroglyphs tattoo
Japanese hieroglyph tattoos, like Chinese ones, are popular almost everywhere, except for these countries themselves. Writing in Japan consists of three systems: kanji, katakana, and hiragana.
Kanzi is the most common of the three. Symbols from this system came from the Chinese writing. However, Japanese characters are easier to spell. In total, the alphabet has 50,000 characters, most of which belong to nouns.
Katakana is used mainly for loan words, internationalisms and proper nouns.
Hiragana is responsible for adjectives and other grammatical phenomena. Tattoos based on the symbols of this system are much less common than from the previous two.
Tattoo hieroglyphs: the meaning of Japanese hieroglyphs
Below is a list of the most popular tattoos based on Japanese characters. Many celebrities have chosen Japanese characters as their tattoo designs. For example, Britney Spears has chosen a character that translates to “strange”. However, in reality, the singer wanted to get a tattoo with the words “mystical”. Melanie C, ex-peppercorn, has never hidden her maiden power. The phrase “Girl Power” was the band's motto. It was these words that Mel C had tattooed on her shoulder. Pink expressed her happiness with a Japanese tattoo of the same name.
Hieroglyphs of a tattoo: Mel C Hieroglyphs of a tattoo: Britney Spears tattoo: Japanese symbols meaning "most desirable"
Level 1 Kanji
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Spelling reforms and kanji lists
After World War II, starting in the year, the Japanese government began to develop spelling reforms.
Some hieroglyphs have received simplified spellings called 新 字子 shinjitai... The number of kanji used was reduced, and the lists of kanji that were to be studied in school were approved. Variant forms and rare kanji have been officially declared deprecated. The main goal of the reforms was to unify the school curriculum for the study of hieroglyphs and reduce the number of kanji used in literature and periodicals. These reforms were of a recommendatory nature; many hieroglyphs that were not included in the lists are still known and often used.
Kyoiku Kanji
Main article: Kyoiku Kanji
Kyoiku Kanji- a list of 1006 hieroglyphs that Japanese children learn in elementary school (6 years of study). The list was first established in 1946 and contained 881 characters. In 1981 it was expanded to its current number.
Joyo kanji
Main article: Joyo kanji
List joyo kanji contains 2136 hieroglyphs, including all kyoiku kanji and 1130 hieroglyphs that are studied in high school. Kanji not included in this list are usually accompanied by a furigana. List joyo kanji of 1945 characters was introduced in 1981, replacing the old list of 1850 characters called toyo kanji and introduced in 1946. In 2010 it was expanded to 2136 characters. Some new symbols used to be jinmeiyo kanji, some are used to spell prefectural names: 阪, 熊, 奈, 岡, 鹿, 梨, 阜, 埼, 茨, 栃 and 媛.
Jinmeiyo kanji
Main article: Jinmeiyo kanji
The list of Jinmeiyo kanji (Japanese 人名 用 漢字) includes 2997 characters, of which 2,136 repeat the list completely joyo kanji, and 861 hieroglyphs are used to write names and place names. Unlike Russia, where the number of names given to newborns is relatively small, in Japan, parents often try to give their children rare names, including rarely used hieroglyphs. To facilitate the work of registration and other services, which simply did not have the necessary technical means for typing rare signs, a list was approved in 1981 jinmeiyo kanji, and names for newborns could only be given from the kanji included in the list, as well as from hiragana and katakana. The list is regularly updated with new hieroglyphs, and the widespread introduction of computers with Unicode support has led the Japanese government to prepare to add 500 to 1000 new hieroglyphs to this list in the near future. On November 30, 2010, 129 were removed from the old list of 985 hieroglyphs used to write names and toponyms; at the same time from joyo kanji in jinmeiyo kanji 5 hieroglyphs were transferred, thus the total number of hieroglyphs for writing names and toponyms is 861.
Japanese Industrial Standards for Kanji
The Japanese Industrial Standard (JIS) for kanji and kana defines code numbers for all of these characters, as well as other forms of writing such as Arabic numerals for digital processing. These standards have been revised several times. The current versions are as follows:
- JIS X 0208: 1997 - the latest version of the main standard, containing 6 355 kanji;
- JIS X 0212: 1990 - an additional standard that includes an additional 5,801 characters; this standard is rarely used because it is not compatible with the most commonly used encoding system Shift JIS; the standard is considered obsolete;
- JIS X 0221: 1995 is the Japanese version of ISO 10646 / Unicode.
Gaiji
Gaiji (Japanese 外 字, literally "external characters") are kanji that are not represented in existing Japanese encodings. This includes variant forms of hieroglyphs that are needed for reference books and links, as well as non-hieroglyphic symbols.
Gaiji can be either system or custom. In both cases, there are problems with the exchange of data, since the code tables used for gaiji differ depending on the computer and operating system.
Nominally, the use of gaiji was prohibited by JIS X 0208-1997, and JIS X 0213-2000 used the code cells previously reserved for gaiji for other purposes. Nevertheless, gaiji continue to be used, for example in the "i-mode" system, where they are used for drawing characters.
Unicode allows you to encode gaiji in.
History
Chinese characters for word kanji.
Japanese term kanji(漢字) literally means "Han (dynasty) letters." It is not known exactly how the Chinese characters got to Japan, but today the generally accepted version is that for the first time Chinese texts were brought to the country by Buddhist monks from the Korean kingdom of Baekje in the 5th century. n. These texts were written in Chinese, and in order for the Japanese to read them with diacritics in accordance with the rules of Japanese grammar, a system was created cambune (漢文).
The Japanese language did not have a written form at the time. A writing system was created to record native Japanese words manyogana, the first literary monument of which was the ancient poetic anthology "Manyoshu". The words in it were written in Chinese characters in sound, and not in meaning.
Manyogana, written in italics, has become hiraganu- a writing system for women for whom higher education was not available. Most of the Heian period literature by women was written in hiragana. Katakana arose in parallel: monastery students simplified the manyogan to the only meaningful element. Both of these writing systems, hiragana and katakana, descended from Chinese characters, later evolved into syllabic alphabets, collectively called canoe.
In modern Japanese, kanji is used to write the stems of words in nouns, adjectives, and verbs, while hiragana used to write inflections and endings of verbs and adjectives (see. okurigana), particles and words for which it is difficult to remember hieroglyphs. Katakana used to write onomatopoeia and gairaigo (loan words). To write borrowed words, katakana began to be used relatively recently: before World War II, usually borrowed words were written in kanji, or according to the meanings of hieroglyphs (煙草 or 莨 tobacco"Tobacco"), or by their phonetic sound (天婦羅 or 天 麩 羅 tempura). The second use is called ateji.
Kanji classification
Confucian thinker Xu Shen (許慎) in his work Showen jiezi (說文解字), c. 100 years old, divided Chinese characters into six categories (Japanese 六 書 rikusho). This traditional classification is still used today, but it hardly correlates with modern lexicography: the boundaries of categories are rather blurred and one kanji can refer to several of them at once. The first four categories relate to the structural structure of the hieroglyph, and the other two relate to its use.
Sho: kei-moji (象形文字)
Hieroglyphs from this category are a schematic sketch of the depicted object. For example, 日 is “sun”, and 木 is “tree”, etc. Modern forms of hieroglyphs differ significantly from the original drawings, so it is rather difficult to guess their meaning by their appearance. The situation is somewhat simpler with the characters of the printed font, which sometimes retain the shape of the original drawing. Hieroglyphs of this kind are called pictograms ( Syo: kei- 象形, the Japanese word for Egyptian hieroglyphs). There are few such hieroglyphs among modern kanji.
Shiji-moji (指事文字)
Shiji-moji in Russian they are called ideograms, logograms or simply "symbols". Hieroglyphs from this category are usually simple in outline and reflect abstract concepts (directions, numbers). For example, the kanji 上 means “above” or “above”, and 下 means “below” or “below”. There are very few such characters among modern kanji.
Kai-moji (会意文字)
Often referred to as "compound ideograms" or simply "ideograms". As a rule, they are combinations of pictograms that make up a common meaning. For instance, kokuji 峠 ( then: ge, "Mountain pass") consists of the signs 山 (mountain), 上 (up) and 下 (down). Another example is the kanji 休 ( yasu"Rest") consists of a modified hieroglyph 人 (person) and 木 (tree). This category is also sparse.
Keisei-moji (形声文字)
Such hieroglyphs are called "phono-semantic" or "phonetic-ideographic" symbols. This is the largest category among modern hieroglyphs (up to 90% of their total number). Usually they consist of two components, one of which is responsible for the meaning, or semantics, of the hieroglyph, and the other for pronunciation. Pronunciation refers to the original Chinese characters, but this trail can often be traced in modern Japanese on-line reading of kanji. The same is with the semantic component, which could have changed over the centuries since their introduction or as a result of borrowing from the Chinese language. As a result, mistakes often occur when instead of a phono-semantic combination in a hieroglyph, they try to discern a composite ideogram.
As an example, you can take the kanji with the key 言 (to speak): 語, 記, 訳, 説, etc. All of them are somehow connected with the concepts of "word" or "language". Likewise, the kanji with the key 雨 (rain): 雲, 電, 雷, 雪, 霜, etc., all reflect weather phenomena. Kanji with the key 寺 (temple) to the right (詩, 持, 時, 侍, etc.) usually have onyomi si or dzi... Sometimes the meaning and / or reading of these hieroglyphs can be guessed from their components. However, there are many exceptions. For example, the kanji 需 ("demand", "request") and 霊 ("spirit", "ghost") have nothing to do with the weather (at least in their modern usage), while the kanji 待 onyomi - thai... The fact is that one and the same component can play a semantic role in one combination and a phonetic role in another.
Tenchu: -moji (転注文字)
This group includes "derivative" or "mutually explaining" hieroglyphs. This category is the most difficult of all, as it has no clear definition. This includes kanji, whose meaning and applications have been expanded. For example, the kanji 楽 stands for "music" and "pleasure": depending on the meaning, the character is pronounced differently in Chinese, which is reflected in different onyomi: gaku"Music" and cancer"pleasure".
Kasaku-moji (仮借文字)
This category is called "phonetically borrowed hieroglyphs." For example, the ancient Chinese character 来 was a pictogram for wheat. Its pronunciation was a homophone of the verb "to come", and the hieroglyph was used to write this verb, without adding a new meaningful element.
Literature
- T. Korchagina "Homonymy in the Modern Japanese Language". - M., East-West, 2005 ISBN 5-478-00182-1
- Mushinsky A. F. "How to read and understand the meanings of hieroglyphic combinations?" - M., East-West, 2006 ISBN 5-17-036579-9
- Vurdov A. M. "Kandzyavye essays". - Syktyvkar, 2005. ISBN 5-85271-215-9
- E. Maevsky "Graphic stylistics of the Japanese language". - M., East - West, 2006. ISBN 5-17-035826-1
- A. Mytsik “214 key hieroglyphs in pictures with comments”. - SPb., Karo, 2006. ISBN 5-89815-554-6
- Hannas, William C. Asia's Orthographic Dilemma... Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1997. ISBN 0-8248-1892-X
Auxiliary signs
The repetition sign (々) in Japanese text means the repetition of the preceding kanji. So, unlike the Chinese language, instead of writing two characters in a row (e.g. 時時 Tokidoki, "sometimes"; 色 色 iroiro, “Miscellaneous”), the second character is replaced with a repeat sign and is voiced in the same way as if it was replaced by a full-fledged kanji (時 々, 色 々). The repetition mark can be used in proper names and place names, for example, in the Japanese surname Sasaki (佐 々 木). The repeat character is a simplified kanji notation 仝.
Another commonly used auxiliary character is ヶ (a reduced katakana sign ke). It is pronounced like ka when used to indicate a quantity (for example, in the combination 六 ヶ 月, rock ka getsu, "Six months") or as ha in place names, for example, in the name of the Tokyo district Kasumigaseki (霞 ヶ 関). This character is a simplified kanji notation 箇.
Japanese influences
Initially, Kanji and Chinese Hanzi were no different from each other: Chinese characters were used to write Japanese text. However, at present there is a significant difference between Hanzi and Kanji: some hieroglyphs were created in Japan itself, some received a different meaning; in addition, after World War II, the spelling of many kanji was simplified.
Kokuji
- 峠 then: ge("Mountain pass"),
- 榊 sakaki("Sakaki"),
- 畑 hatake("Dry field"),
- 辻 tsuji("Intersection, street"),
- 働 before:, khatara (ku)("Job").
Most of these kanji have only kun reading, but some have been borrowed by China and have acquired the same reading as well.
Kokkun
In addition to kokuji, there are kanji that have a different meaning in Japanese than in Chinese. These kanji are called kokkun(国 訓), including:
- 沖 oki("Seaside"; whale. chun"rinsing"),
- 椿 tsubaki("Japanese camellia"; whale. chun"ailanthus").
Old and new hieroglyphs
Main article: Shinjitai
The same kanji can sometimes be written in different ways: kyu: jitai, letters. "Old hieroglyphs") (舊 字體 in kyujitai notation) and 新 字 ble ( shinjitai; "New hieroglyphs"). Below are some examples of writing the same kanji in the form of kyujitai and shinjitai:
- 國 国 Cooney, cook (y)("country"),
- 號 号 th:("room"),
- 變 変 heng, ka (varu)("change").
Hieroglyphs kyujitai were used until the end of World War II and mostly match traditional Chinese characters. In 1946, the government approved simplified hieroglyphs shinjitai in the list " Toyo kanji jitai hyo"(当 用 漢字 字 ble 表). Some of the new characters coincided with the simplified Chinese characters used in the PRC. As a result of the simplification process in China, some of the new characters were borrowed from abbreviated forms (略 字, ryakuji) used in handwritten texts, however, in a certain context, the use of old forms of some hieroglyphs (正字, seiji). There are also even more simplified spellings of hieroglyphs, sometimes used in handwritten texts, but their use is discouraged.
In theory, any Chinese character can be used in Japanese text, but in practice, many Chinese characters are not used in Japanese. " Daikanwa Jiten”- one of the largest dictionaries of hieroglyphs - contains about 50 thousand entries, although most of the hieroglyphs recorded there have never been found in Japanese texts.
In today's article, we'll take a closer look.
You will learn:
- How hieroglyphs appeared in Japan
- Why hieroglyphs "onnoe" and "kunnoe" readings
- How many hieroglyphs do you need to know
- Why the Japanese won't give up hieroglyphs
- How the "々" character is read
- What order of writing traits should be followed
- And much more!
At the end of the article, you will find a copybook that will help you write a few Japanese characters yourself.
Japanese characters and their meaning
For writing, the Japanese use special characters - hieroglyphs, which were borrowed from China. In Japan, hieroglyphs are called so: "Letters of the (dynasty) Han", or "Chinese characters" 漢字 (kanji). The Chinese character system is believed to have originated 
back in the 16th century BC. Japanese is the same language until the 5th century AD. had no written form. This was due to strong state fragmentation. Japan was a weak state, consisting of many principalities, each of which had its own power, its own dialect. But gradually strong rulers came to power, the unification of principalities began in the country, which entailed the adoption of the culture and writing of the most powerful state at that time. It is not known exactly how the Chinese writing came to be in Japan, but a widespread version is that the first hieroglyphs were brought to the country by Buddhist monks. The adaptation of the Chinese script was not easy, since Japanese in grammar, vocabulary, phonetics has nothing to do with Chinese. Initially, Kanji and Chinese Hanzi were no different from each other. But now there is a difference between them: some hieroglyphs were created in Japan itself - "national hieroglyphs" 国 字 (kokuji), some have received a different meaning. And after World War II, the writing of many kanji was simplified.
Why do Japanese characters need multiple readings?
The Japanese borrowed not only hieroglyphs from the Chinese language, but also their readings. Having heard the original Chinese reading of a hieroglyph, the Japanese tried to pronounce it in their own way. This is how the “Chinese” or “onnoe” reading happened - 音 読 (onyomi). For example, the Chinese word water (水) - "shui", taking into account the peculiarities of the Japanese pronunciation, has become "sui". Some kanji have several onyomi, because they were borrowed from China several times: in different periods and from different areas. But when the Japanese wanted to use hieroglyphs to write their own words, Chinese readings were not enough. Therefore, it became necessary to translate the hieroglyphs into Japanese. Just like the English word "water" is translated as "み ず, mizu", the Chinese word "水" was given the same meaning - "み ず". This is how the "Japanese", "kuno" reading of the hieroglyph appeared - 訓 読 み, (kunyomi). Some kanji may or may not have several kuns at once. Often used Japanese characters can have ten different readings. The choice of reading a hieroglyph depends on many things: context, meaning, combination with other kanji, and even on the place in the sentence. Therefore, it is often the only sure way to determine where the reading is on-line, and where the reading is kunny - to learn specific constructions.
How many hieroglyphs are there?
It is almost impossible to answer the question about the total number of hieroglyphs, since their number is truly enormous. Judging by the dictionaries: from 50 to 85 thousand. However, in the computer field, font systems have been released containing encodings for 170-180 thousand characters! It includes all the ancient and modern ideograms ever used around the world. In ordinary texts, for example, newspapers or magazines, only a small part of the hieroglyphs is used - about 2500 characters. Of course, there are also rare hieroglyphs, mostly technical terms, rare names and surnames. There is a list of "hieroglyphs for everyday use" ("joyo-kanji") approved by the Japanese government, which contains 2136 characters. It is this number of characters that a graduate of a Japanese school should remember and be able to write.
How to quickly memorize hieroglyphs?
Why won't the Japanese give up hieroglyphs?
Many students of Japanese or Chinese languages often ask themselves: why such an inconvenient writing system still exists today? Hieroglyphs are classified as ideographic signs, in the outline of which at least symbolic, but similarity with the depicted object is preserved. For example, the first Chinese characters are images of specific objects: 木 - "tree", 火 - "fire", etc. The relevance of hieroglyphs today is partly due to the fact that ideographic writing has some advantages over phonographic. Using the same ideograms, people speaking different languages can communicate, because an ideogram conveys the meaning, not the sound of a word. For example, seeing the “犬” sign, the Korean, Chinese and Japanese will read the character differently, but they will all understand that this is a dog. Another advantage is the compactness of the letter. one character denotes a whole word. But if the Chinese, for example, have no alternative to hieroglyphs, then the Japanese have syllabic alphabets! Will the Japanese give up hieroglyphs in the near future? They will not refuse. Indeed, due to the huge number of homonyms in the Japanese language, the use of hieroglyphs becomes simply necessary. With the same sound, words, depending on their meaning, are written in different hieroglyphs. What can we say about the Japanese mentality, which implies loyalty to tradition and pride in its history. And thanks to the computer, the problem associated with the difficult writing of hieroglyphs was resolved. Today you can type Japanese texts very quickly.
Why do we need the symbol "々 »?
The "々" symbol is not a hieroglyph. As we already know, any ideographic sign has at least one specific phonetic correspondence. This same icon is constantly changing its reading. This symbol is called a repetition sign, and it is needed in order to avoid the repeated writing of hieroglyphs. For example, the word "people" consists of two hieroglyphs for "person" - "人人" (hitobito), but for simplicity, this word is written "人 々". Although there is no grammatical plural in Japanese, it can sometimes be formed by repeating kanji, as in our human example:
- 人 hito - a person; 人 々 hitobito - people;
- 山 yama - mountain; 山 々 yamayama - mountains;
It also happens that some words change their meaning when doubling:
- 時 currents - time; 時 々 tokidoki - sometimes.
The symbol "々" has many names: dancing sign 踊 り 字 (odoriji), repetition sign 重 ね 字 (kasaneji), noma-ten ノ マ 点 (due to the similarity to katakana symbols ノ and マ), and many others.
What is the order of writing strokes in hieroglyphs?
Along with Chinese, Japanese characters have a certain sequence of writing strokes. The correct order of strokes helps ensure that the characters are recognizable, even if you write them quickly. The Japanese have reduced this order to several rules, which, of course, have exceptions. The most important rule: hieroglyphs are written top to bottom and left to right... Here are some more basic rules:
1. Horizontal lines are written from left to right and parallel;
2. Vertical lines are written from top to bottom;
3. If there are both vertical and horizontal lines in a hieroglyph, then the horizontal ones are written first;
4. The vertical line crossing the hieroglyph or its element in the center is written last;
5. Horizontal lines passing through the sign are also written last;
6. First, the backslash to the left is written, then the backslash to the right;
With the correct stroke order, the hieroglyph is beautiful and much easier to write. All kanji must be the same size. In order for a character to be balanced, it must fit strictly into a square of a given size. Now that you know what order of features you need to follow, try writing a few simple characters that we have already met in this article:
人 - person
山 - mountain
水 - water
木 -tree
火 - fire
I hope that from this article you have learned something new and interesting for yourself. As a homework assignment, write the above several times. I think that everyone who is familiar with hieroglyphics has their own favorite hieroglyph, one that is immediately remembered or liked. Do you have a favorite hieroglyph? Share in the comments about doing your homework, I will also be glad to hear your impressions. The second part .
Want to know more about hieroglyphs?
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In the modern world, oriental culture is very popular. People learn Japanese all over the world or simply use Japanese characters and their meaning in various spheres of life.
History of Japanese writing
The origin of Japanese writing is directly related to the introduction of Chinese traditions into the life of the Japanese. While writing was already developed in China, in the history of the land of the rising sun there was not a single mention of a written version of the language.
In the 6th century BC, China and Japan began to build close diplomatic relations, as a result of which the Japanese began to borrow the Chinese script and, over time, adapt and modify nihongo for grammatical and phonetic features.
Structure of the Japanese language
In the modern language of Japan, there are three main contributors:
- Kanji - characters borrowed from Chinese;
- Hiragana is the syllabic alphabet of words and names for which there are no hieroglyphs;
- Katakana is a syllabic alphabet used to write words borrowed from other languages.
Kanji and its readings
After the Chinese writing came to the territory of Japan, it was greatly modified and adapted to the peculiarities of the local speech. The Japanese began to create new kanji or to give Chinese different meanings, which led to a significant difference between the reading of the same kanji. There are two main types of reading:
- Onyomi (Chinese reading);
- Kunyomi (Japanese reading).
Onyomi is also called onyom reading. It consists in the adaptation of hieroglyphs borrowed from the Chinese language. One kanji can have more than one onyomi.
Kunyomi or kun reading is used to reproduce native Japanese words.
One and the same symbol can have either one type of reading or several at once. There are a number of kanji that, depending on the type of reading, completely change their meaning.
Use of Japanese characters
Japanese hieroglyphs and their meaning in Russian are of great importance. Examples of their use:
- tattoos;
- kanji mascots;
- gifts (do-it-yourself cards, cups and kanji T-shirts, etc.);
- decoration of interior elements (wallpaper, pillows, curtains, etc.).
Omamori Japanese characters and talismans
In the culture of the land of the rising sun, there are a large number of traditional talismans. Among them, a talisman called Omamori plays a special role. From Japanese "mamori" is translated as "protection". These amulets are made in the form of small bags of silk fabric of different colors and stored in wallets, pockets, hung in a car, on a bag or mobile phone.
You can put money or herbs inside the bag, and so that the amulet does not lose its power, after its creation, you cannot open the bag. On the outside of the fabric, symbols are often sewn that are meaningful to those to whom this amulet is intended. They are used to attract money, luck, love, and so on.
Popular Japanese characters
Hieroglyph of money
The kanji meaning "money" is written like this: 金. It reads like "kane" (kane). When used in conjunction with other symbols, it has many meanings:
- Metal, gold;
- Rich man;
- Price;
- Debt and so on.
Hieroglyph of love
Another popular character is 愛. Translated means "love" and reads as "ai" (ai). In combination with other hieroglyphs, it acquires the following meanings:
- Love or appreciate;
- Sweet, adorable, beloved;
- Passion;
- Attachment;
- Patriotism;
- Fan and so on.
Hieroglyph of happiness and good luck
Nichongo uses a single kanji 幸 to represent such important words as happiness and good fortune. This word is read as "ko" (ko). Meaning:
- Happiness, luck, bliss;
- Gifts of the forest or seafood;
Health hieroglyph
Health is written as 健康 and reads "kenko" (kenko). This word is composed of two separate kanji. Kanji 健 (ken) has no meaning of its own and is found in words like "healthy", "a lot," "hardy," and so on.
Japanese names and their meanings
Female Japanese names
For women, names are often chosen that include kanji, meaning the character trait that parents would like to endow their daughter with. One of the most popular in this case is 美 (mi), which means beauty. It is an integral part of such names as:
- Akemi (meaning - bright beauty);
- Kazumi (harmonious beauty);
- Miho (beautiful bay);
- Manami (beauty of love);
- Natsumi (summer beauty);
- Harumi (beauty of spring) and so on.
There are many such kanji. A popular component in a woman's name is the love character 愛, which reads ai or ai. Kanji such as "mind", "calmness", "wisdom" and so on are also used.
Often, a female name is based on a symbol with the meaning of a plant. Among them, the following kanji are distinguished:
- 桃 means "peach" and reads like "momo" (found in names like Mommo and Momoko);
- The female name 菊 (Kiku) means "chrysanthemum";
- The name 藤 (Fuji) means wisteria and so on.
Male Japanese names
Reading a male name is one of the hardest parts of nihongo because it uses different readings. There is no single algorithm for pronouncing a man's name. Therefore, the correct pronunciation of the name should be checked with its bearer.
If you have been studying Japanese for a long time, then it is likely that Japanese characters have entered your daily life and are not outlandish. However, for a beginner or a person who is not at all familiar with Japanese writing, Japanese signs can evoke a lot of feelings, from a complete lack of understanding of the meaning of these mysterious squiggles to intense curiosity.
If you see a hieroglyph, for example, as a tattoo or on someone's home wall as a decoration, then it is likely that you will want to know its meaning. Well, it's not just that a person chose this set of dashes and sticks, fancifully folding into a meaning accessible to the elect.
Eastern culture remains popular in Russia, and a large number of people strive to learn about the mysterious Eastern world.
For what purposes do people search for specific hieroglyphs?
First of all, for tattoos. A tattoo in the form of a hieroglyph attracts the attention of others (it is likely that many people, upon seeing a tattoo, will want to know the meaning). A stuffed hieroglyph is an identifier of belonging to a secret for its owner, and can also tell others (if they know the meaning of kanji) what a person with a hieroglyph pays attention to, for example, health, love or wealth, and in some cases all of this at once.
For a person of European culture, hieroglyphs carry an aura of mystery and a kind of magic. For the same reason, people buy talismans or charms in the form of hieroglyphs and believe in their protection, try to join Eastern wisdom.
Some people are mesmerized magic calligraphy... Beautiful writing of hieroglyphs is a whole art, which consists not only in using the brush correctly, but also focusing your mind on the meaning of the hieroglyph, collecting all the power of the brush, drawing the coveted sign.
Another area of application of hieroglyphs is Feng Shui. This is an ancient Chinese teaching about the harmonization of space. It is believed that hieroglyphs in the right place (for example, the Japanese hieroglyph for "Wealth" in a wallet) attracts what they mean. They have a deep meaning and are believed to have tremendous power.
So, below you can get acquainted with the most popular hieroglyphs, as well as the order of their drawing. Imagine the surprise of your acquaintances when you can easily not only say the meaning of the hieroglyph depicted, for example, on the interlocutor's hand, but also read it.
Japanese character for "happiness"
幸 (sachi). You can also find the character 福 (fuku), which also means "happiness", and sometimes their combination 幸福 (koufuku). It is located almost in any corner of the house, it is believed that it harmonizes the space very well.
You can write this hieroglyph for luck, the order of the strokes of this hieroglyph is shown here.
Japanese character for "luck"
It may look like 幸, but more often the Japanese character for luck is written like this: 吉 (kichi). It is believed that this kanji will ensure success in any business started and will give confidence.
Japanese character for "wealth"
富 (tomi). This hieroglyph is in the name of our beloved Mount Fuji - 富士山. The inscriptions with it are placed in the place where the money is stored, or in the wallet.
Hieroglyph stroke order 富:
Japanese character "love"
愛 (ai). Perhaps one of the most popular hieroglyphs, especially among married couples. Helps to attract true feelings. Not to be confused with 恋 (koi). In the first case, we mean love not only for the opposite sex, but also for nature, life, art. In the second case - romantic love for a specific person, even to some extent manifested in the desire to possess.
Hieroglyph stroke order 愛:
Japanese character for "health"
健康 (kenkou). It is the combination of the two kanji that forms the word "health". It is believed that the image of this hieroglyph helps to improve the well-being of its owner. Sometimes you can find just the hieroglyph 健, but separately it means "healthy".
What else can you do with hieroglyphs?
In addition to tattoos, feng shui and talismans, Japanese characters can be used in the following cases:
Use your favorite hieroglyph when creating a hand-made postcard. This will be a memorable gift with which you express your feelings or wishes in an unusual way. The postcard will be especially valuable for those who are fond of oriental martial arts.
In addition to a postcard, a mug with a hieroglyph would be a great gift idea
Writing on a T-shirt is much less risky than getting a tattoo. Moreover, it is much more pleasant to wear a T-shirt with an inscription, the meaning of which is close to you in spirit, than to try with difficulty to find a thing, the inscription on which would suit you.
Japanese-style interiors are very popular these days. Well, what is the Japanese style without the hieroglyph? If you want to contemplate the Japanese symbol on the wall of your room, you can watch the video with calligraphy lessons and create a real masterpiece on beautiful paper or on a bamboo napkin. Another option is to make a custom-made wallpaper or poster.
For those who are fond of needlework (embroidery, beads, etc.), creating a pattern on a pillow or panel will be akin to calligraphy. The main thing is to choose a beautiful layout.
If you are invited to a Japanese-style evening (or even a simple party), bring some candy with you, but not simple ones. In each candy, wrap a wish in the form of a hieroglyph for the person who will get this candy.
If you want to learn how to write the most popular Japanese characters, then remember the most important rule - kanji is always written in a strict sequence of strokes. According to one Japanese scholar, if you write a hieroglyph without following the sequence, then you are committing a violent action on it.
It is also necessary to pay special attention to the meanings of the hieroglyphs, so as not to get into an awkward situation when meeting with a native speaker, or a person who understands hieroglyphs. It is better not to spontaneously search for the meanings of hieroglyphs on the Internet, but to turn to a Japanese friend (if any) or an experienced Japanese scholar.
But, you see, just knowing a few hieroglyphs is not so interesting. Especially if you are planning to seriously study Japanese, you will face many difficulties that often cause the fading of interest in learning the language. This is because many people simply do not know how to learn kanji correctly. But we have great news for you - you can learn how to effectively memorize hieroglyphs in our course. Thanks to these lessons, you will be able to predict not only the sequence of features even in unfamiliar hieroglyphs, but also the meaning and even reading! There are not very many places in the group, so hurry up until you have passed all the basics without you! Learn more and purchase the course here.
Hieroglyphs were and remain to this day a beautiful and mesmerizing form of writing that can be mastered and improved endlessly.
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Kanji(Japanese 汉字 - kanji, "Chinese characters") - hieroglyphic writing, an integral part of Japanese writing.
Japanese hieroglyphs were borrowed by the Japanese in China in the 5-6 centuries. Hieroglyphs developed by the Japanese themselves (国 字 - kokuji) were added to the borrowed characters. In addition to hieroglyphs, two components of the alphabet are also used for writing in Japan: hiragana and katakana, Arabic numerals and the romaji Latin alphabet.
History
The Japanese term kanji (汉字) translates to "Signs (of the Han Dynasty)." It is not known exactly how the Chinese characters got to Japan, but today it is generally accepted that the first Chinese texts were brought in at the beginning of the 5th century. These texts were written in Chinese, and in order to be able to read them with diacritics in accordance with the rules of Japanese grammar, the kanbun system was developed - kanbun or kambun (汉文) - originally meant "Classical Chinese composition".
The Japanese language did not have a written form at the time. To record the original Japanese words, the writing system Man "yōshū (万 叶 集) was created, the first monument of which was the ancient poetic anthology" Manyoshu. "Words in it were written in Chinese characters by sound, not content.
Man "yōshū (万 叶 集) Russian Man'yoshu, written in hieroglyphic cursive, turned into hiragana - a writing system for women who were almost inaccessible to higher education. Most literary monuments of the Heian era with female authorship were written in hiragana. The monasteries simplified the Manyoshu down to a single significant element.The writing systems, katakana and hiragana, were derived from Chinese characters and later evolved into syllabic alphabets, which are collectively called Kaná (仮 名) or Japanese syllabic alphabet.
Hieroglyphs in modern Japanese are used for the most part to write the stems of words in nouns, adjectives and verbs, on the other hand, hiragana is used to write inflections and endings of verbs and adjectives (see okurigana), particles and words in which it is difficult to remember hieroglyphs. Katakana is used to write onomatopias and gairago (loanwords).
Katakana began to be used relatively recently to write borrowed words. By the end of World War II, such words were written in hieroglyphs for meaning (烟草 or 莨 tobacco - "tobacco", literally "grass, smokes") or phonetic sound (天妇罗 or 天 麸 罗 tempura - fried food of Portuguese origin). The last way of writing in hieroglyphs is called ateji.
Japanese innovation
At first, Chinese and Japanese characters were virtually indistinguishable from each other: the latter were traditionally used to write Japanese text. However, at present there is a big difference between Chinese Hanzi and Japanese kanji: some characters were created by the Japanese themselves, and some received a different meaning. In addition, after World War II, many Japanese characters in writing were simplified.
Kokuji (国 字)
Kokuji (国 字 - "national hieroglyphs") are Japanese hieroglyphs. Kokuji is sometimes called Wasya Kanji (和 制 汉字 - "Chinese characters created in Japan"). In total, there are several hundred kokuji. Most are rarely used, but some have become important additions to the written Japanese language. Among them:
峠 (と う げ) toge (mountain pass)
榊 (さ か き) sakaki (sakaki tree from the Camellia genus)
畑 (は た け) hatake (dry land)
辻 (つ じ) Tsuji (crossroads)
働 (ど う / は た ら く) do, haatar (ku) (physical work)
Most of these "national hieroglyphs" have only Japanese readings, but some were borrowed by the Chinese themselves and also acquired onn (Chinese) readings.
Kokkun (国 训)
In addition to kokuji, there are hieroglyphs that have different meanings in Japanese than in Chinese. Such hieroglyphs are called kokkun (国 训 - "[signs] of the national reading"). Among them:
冲 (お き) OKI (open sea; Chinese gargle)
森 (も り) Sea (forest; Chinese majestic, lush)
椿 (つ ば き) Tsubaki (Camellia japonica)
Old and new hieroglyphs (旧 字家, 新 字文)
The same hieroglyph can sometimes be written in different styles: old (旧 字文, kyujitai - "old hieroglyphs"; in the old style 旧 字文) and new (新 字家, shinzitai - "new hieroglyphs"). Below are some examples of writing the same hieroglyph in two styles:
国 (old) 国 (new) kuni, koku (country, region)
号 (old) 号 (new) go (number, name, name)
变 (old) 変 (new) heng, ka (wara) (change, vary)
Old-style Japanese characters were used until the end of World War II and are largely the same as traditional Chinese characters. In 1946, the Japanese government legislated the new style of simplified characters in the Toyo Kanji Jitai Hyo (当 用 汉字 字文 表) list.
Some of the new characters coincided with the simplified Chinese characters that are used today in the PRC. As with the PRC's writing reform, a number of new characters were borrowed from cursive forms (略 字, ryakuji) that were used in handwritten texts. However, in a certain context, it was allowed to use the old (correct) forms of some hieroglyphs (正字, Seiji). There are also even more simplified versions of the spelling of hieroglyphs, but the scope of their use is limited to private correspondence.
In theory, any Chinese character can be used in Japanese text, but in practice, many Chinese characters are not used in Japanese. Daikanwa jiten (大汉 和 辞典) - one of the largest dictionaries of hieroglyphs - contains about 50 thousand characters, but most of them are rarely found in Japanese texts.
Reading hieroglyphs
Depending on how the hieroglyph got into the Japanese language, it can be used to write one or different words, and even more often morphemes. From the point of view of the reader, this means that the hieroglyphs have one or more readings. The choice of reading a hieroglyph depends on the context, content and message with other characters, and sometimes on the position in the sentence. The reading is divided into two: "Sino-Japanese" (音 読 み) and "Japanese" (訓 読 み).
Onyomi
Onyomi (音 読 み - phonetic reading) - Sino-Japanese reading or Japanese interpretation of the Chinese character pronunciation. Some signs have several onyomi, because they were borrowed from China several times, at different times and from different areas. Kokuji, or hieroglyphs that were invented by the Japanese themselves, usually do not have onyomi, although there are exceptions. For example, in the hieroglyph 働 "to work" is kunyomi (hataraku), but there is also onyomi, but in the hieroglyph 腺 "gland" (milk, thyroid, etc.) is only onyomi.
Kunyomi
Kunyomi (訓 読 み) is a Japanese reading that is based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words (大 和 言葉, yamato kotoba - "Yamato words"), to which Chinese characters have been matched. In other words, kunyomi is the Japanese translation of the Chinese character. Several hieroglyphs may contain several kunyomi at once, or may not be at all.
Other readings
There are many combinations of hieroglyphs, for the pronunciation of which both onyomi and kunyomi are used. Such words are called "jubako" (重 箱 - "loaded chest") or "yuto" (汤 桶 - "barrel of boiling water"). These two terms themselves are autologous: the first character in the word "dzubako" is read in onyomi, and the second in kunyomi. In the word "yuto" - on the contrary. Other examples of such mixed readings: 金色 kinyiro - "golden", 空手道 karatedo - "".
Some kanji have little-known reading - nanori (名 乗 り - "name of the name"), which is usually used when voicing personal names. As a rule, they are similar in sound to kunyomi. Place names also sometimes use nanori, or even readings that are not found anywhere else.
Gikun (义 训) - reading the messages of hieroglyphs that are not directly related to the kunyomi or onyomi of individual characters, but related to the content of the entire hieroglyphic combination. For example, the combination 一 寸 can be read as "issun" (that is, "one sun"), but in reality this indivisible combination is read as "totto" ("a little"). Gikun is often found in Japanese surnames.
The use of ateji to write borrowed words led to the appearance of new meanings in hieroglyphs, as well as messages, the reading of which was unusual. For example, the obsolete message 亜 细 亜 aji was previously used for the hieroglyphic notation of the part of the world - Asia. Today, katakana is used to write this word, but the 亜 sign acquired a different meaning - "Asia", in such combinations as "TOA" 东 亜 ("East Asia").
From the outdated hieroglyphic combination 亜 米利加 (America - America), the second character was taken, from which the neologism 米 国 (beikoku) arose, which literally can be translated as "rice country", although in reality this combination means the USA.
Choice of options
Words for similar concepts such as "east" (东), "north" (北), and "northeast" (东北) can have completely different pronunciations: Higashi and whale are readings of kunyomi and are used for the first two characters, while while "northeast" will be read onyomi - Tohoku. Choosing the correct kanji reading is one of the most difficult aspects of learning in Japanese.
As a rule, onyomi is chosen when reading combinations of hieroglyphs. Such messages are called Japanese jukugo 熟语. For example, the combination 学校 (Gakko, “school”), 情报 (jioho, “information”), and 新 干线 (Shinkansen) are read in this pattern.
A hieroglyph that is separate from other hieroglyphic characters and is surrounded by a Kana is usually read by kunyomi. This applies to nouns as well as conjugated verbs and adjectives. For example, 月 (tsuki, month), 新 し い (atarasiy, “new”), 情 け (nasake, “pity”), 赤 い (akai, red), 見 る (measure, “look”) are all used by kunyomi.
These two basic pattern rules have many exceptions, and kunyomi can also form compound words, although they are less common than onyomi messages. Examples include 手纸 (tagged, “letter”), 日 伞 (Higashi, “sun umbrella”), or the well-known phrase 神 风 (kamikaze, “divine wind”). Such messages may also be accompanied by fumigation. For example, 歌 い 手 (hide, "singer") or 折 り 紙 (origami). However, some of these combinations can be written without it - for example, 折纸 (origami).
In addition, some hieroglyphs standing separately in the text can also be read after onyomi: 爱 (ai "love"), 禅 (zen), 点 (ten "mark"). Most of these hieroglyphs simply do not have kunyomi, which excludes the possibility of error.
In general, the situation with the reading of onyomi is rather complicated, since many signs have several such readings. For comparison - 先生 (sensei, "teacher") and 一生 (isso, "all life").
In Japanese, there are homographs that can be read differently depending on the meaning, as in Russian "castle" and "castle". For example, the combination 上手 can be read in three ways: Uvat ("upper part, superiority") or kami ("upper part, upper current"), zozu ("skillful"). Additionally, the combination 上手 い can be read as Umai (skillful).
Some well-known place names, including (东京) and (日本, nihon, or sometimes nippon) are read in onyomi, although most Japanese place names are read in kunyomi (for example, 大阪 Osaka, 青森 Aomori, 広 島). Surnames and first names are also usually read by kunyomi. For example, 山田 for Yamada, 田中 for Tanaka, 铃木 for Suzuki. However, sometimes there are names in which kunyomi, onyomi and nanori are mixed. You can read them only with certain experience (for example, 大海 - Daikai (on-kun), 夏 美 - Natsumi (kun-on)).
Phonetic clues
To avoid inaccuracies, along with the hieroglyphs in the texts, sometimes there are phonetic clues in the form of hiragana, which are typed in small size "agate" above the hieroglyphs (the so-called furigana) or in one line with them (the so-called kumimoji). This is often done in texts for children learning Japanese and in manga. furigana is sometimes used in newspapers for rare or unusual readings, as well as for characters not included in the main characters list.
Number of hieroglyphs
The total number of existing hieroglyphs is difficult to determine. The Daikanwa Jiten Japanese Dictionary contains about 50 thousand characters, while the more complete modern Chinese dictionaries contain more than 80 thousand characters. Most of these hieroglyphs are not used in modern Japan or modern China. In order to understand most Japanese texts, it is enough to know about 3 thousand hieroglyphs.
Spelling reforms
After World War II, beginning in early 1946, the Japanese government began developing spelling reforms. Some hieroglyphs have received simplified spellings called shinjitai (新 字文). The number of characters used was reduced, and the lists of hieroglyphs necessary for studying at school were approved. Variations of shapes and rare marks have been officially declared deprecated. The main goal of the reforms was to unify the school curriculum for the study of hieroglyphs and reduce the number of hieroglyphic signs that were used in literature and the media. These reforms were of a recommendatory nature. Many hieroglyphs that were not included in the lists are still known and often used.
Kyоiku Kanji (教育 汉字)
Kyoiku kanji (教育 汉字, "educational characters") - the list consists of 1006 characters that Japanese children learn in elementary school (6 years of study). This list was first established in early 1946 and contained only 881 characters. In 1981, it was increased to the current number. This list is divided by year of study. Its full name is "Gakunenbetsu Kanji"
Jyoyo Kanji
Jyoyo Kanji (常用 汉字, "characters of constant use") - The list consists of 1945 characters, which includes "Kyok kanji" for elementary school and 939 characters for high school (3 years of study). Characters that are not included in this list are usually accompanied by furigana. The list was updated in early 1981, replacing the old 1850 Toyo Kanji (当 用 汉字) characters introduced in early 1946.
Jinmeyo Kanji (人名 用 汉字)
Jimmeyo kanji (人名 用 汉字, "hieroglyphs for human names") - the list consists of 2928 hieroglyphs, 1945 characters that completely copy the list of "jyoyo kanji", and 983 hieroglyphs are used to write names and place names. In Japan, most parents try to give their children rare names that include very rare hieroglyphs. To facilitate the work of registration and other services, which do not have the necessary technical means for typing rare characters, a list of "jimmeyo kanji" was approved in 1981, according to which names of newborns could only be given with the signs of the list, or with hirigan or katakana characters. This list is regularly updated with new hieroglyphs, and the widespread introduction of computers with Unicode support has led to the fact that the Japanese government is preparing to add 500 to 1000 new hieroglyphs to this list in the near future.
Gaiji (外 字)
Gaiji (外 字, "outer characters") are characters that are not represented in existing Japanese encodings. These include variant or obsolete forms of hieroglyphs that are needed for reference books and links, as well as non-hieroglyphic symbols.
Gaiji can be either custom or system. In both cases, there are problems with the exchange of data, this is because the code tables used for gaiji depend on the computer and the operating system.
Nominally, the use of gaiji is prohibited by JIS X 0208-1997 and JIS X 0213-2000, since they occupy code cells reserved for gaiji. However, gaiji continue to be used, for example in the "i-mode" system, where they are used for drawing characters. Unicode allows you to encode gaiji in a private domain.
Classification of hieroglyphs
Buddhist thinker Xu Shen (许慎), in his essay "Interpretation of Texts and Analysis of Signs" (说文解字), divided Chinese characters into "six spellings" (六 书, Japanese rikusho), that is, six categories. This traditional classification is still used, but it hardly correlates with modern lexicography - the boundaries of categories are rather blurred and one hieroglyph can belong to several of them at once. The first four categories relate to the structural structure of the hieroglyph, and the remaining two categories relate to its use.
Seki moji pictographic letter (象形文字)
The hieroglyphs "seki moji" (象形文字) are a schematic representation of the depicted object. For example, 木 is a tree or 日 is the sun, etc. The original drawings differ significantly from modern forms, so it is rather difficult to unravel these hieroglyphs and their meaning by their appearance. With the signs of the printed font, the situation is much simpler, they sometimes retain the shape of the original drawing. Hieroglyphs of this kind are called pictographic or seki - 象形, the Japanese word for Egyptian pictographic writing. Signs of this kind among modern hieroglyphs are quite few.
Shizu moji ideogram (指 事 文字)
Shizu moji (指 事 文字, "pointers") is a form of ideogram or symbolic writing. Hieroglyphs in this category are usually simple in form and reflect abstract concepts of direction or number. For example, 上 stands for "above" or "up", and 下 stands for "below" or "below". Among modern hieroglyphs, such signs are rare.
Kaiyi moji ideogram (会意 文字)
The hieroglyphs "kayi moji" are called "folded ideograms." Typically, signs are a combination of a series of pictograms that represent a common meaning. For example, kokuji 峠 (toge, "mountain pass") consists of the signs 山 (mountain), 上 (up), and 下 (down). Another example - the sign 休 (for meat "rest") consists of a modified hieroglyph 人 (person) and 木 (tree). This category is also sparse.
Phonetic-semantic writing "moji cases" (形 声 文字)
The hieroglyphs "moji cases" are called "phonetic-semantic" or "phonetic-ideographic" symbols. This is the largest category among modern hieroglyphs (up to 90% of their total number). They usually consist of two components, one of which is responsible for the pronunciation of the hieroglyph, and the other for the content or semantics. The pronunciation comes from the ascending Chinese characters. Often this mark is also noticeable in the modern Japanese reading of onyomi. It is worth noting that the semantic component and its content could have changed over a century since its introduction into Japanese or Chinese. Accordingly, mistakes often occur when, instead of a phonetic-semantic combination, they try to see only a folded ideogram in a hieroglyph. However, vidkada - the semantics of the hieroglyph is generally an even bigger mistake.
Derivative letter "tent moji" (転 注 文字)
This group includes "derivative" or "mutually explaining" hieroglyphs. This category is the most difficult of all, because it has no clear definition. This includes signs whose content and application have been expanded. For example, the character 楽 means "music" or "pleasure." In Chinese, depending on the meaning, it is pronounced differently. This is reflected in the Japanese language, where this sign has different onyomi - hook "music" and cancer "pleasure".
Borrowed letter "kasyaku moji" (仮 借 文字)
This category of "kasyaku moji" is called "phonetically borrowed hieroglyphs." For example, the character 来 in ancient Chinese was an icon for wheat. Its pronunciation was homophones of the word "arrival", so the hieroglyph was used to write this word, without adding a new meaningful element. However, some researchers note that phonetic borrowings occurred as a result of following ideologemes. So the same sign 来 evolved from "wheat" to "arrival", through the meaning of "ripening of the harvest" or "arrival of the harvest."
Auxiliary signs
The repetition sign (々) in Japanese text means the repetition of the previous character. So, instead of writing two characters in a row (for example, 时时 tokidoki, “sometimes” or 色 色 iroiro, “miscellaneous”), the second character is replaced with a repetition sign and voiced in the same way as a full-fledged character (时 々, 色 々). The repetition sign can be used in proper names and place names, for example, in the Japanese surname Sasaki (佐 々 木). The repetition mark is a simplified spelling of the character 同.
Another auxiliary character that is often used for writing is the ヶ sign (a diminished katakana sign "ke"). It is pronounced "ka" when used to indicate quantity (for example, in the combination 六 ヶ 月 rok ka getsu, "six months") or as "ga" in place names such as in Kanegasaki (金 ヶ 崎). This symbol is a simplified notation for the character 箇.
Dictionaries
To find the desired hieroglyph in the dictionary, you need to know its key and the number of risks. The Chinese character can be broken down into simple components called keys (less commonly, "radicals"). If there are many keys in a hieroglyph, one main one is taken (it is determined according to special rules), after which the required hieroglyph is searched for in the key section by the number of risks. For example, the hieroglyph mother (妈) should be found in the section of the key (女), which is written with three dashes, among the hieroglyphs consisting of 13 dashes.
There are 214 classic keys in modern Japanese. In electronic dictionaries, it is possible to search not only by the main key, but by all possible components of the hieroglyph, the number of dashes or reading.
Japanese kanji tests
The main kanji test in Japan is the Kanji kent test (日本 汉字 能力 検 定 试 験, Nihon kanji noryoku kent shiken). It tests the ability to read, translate and write hieroglyphs. The test is administered by the Japanese government and is used to test knowledge in schools and universities in Japan. Contains 10 main levels. The most difficult of them tests the knowledge of 6000 signs.
For foreigners, there is a lightweight test called the Nihongi noryoku shiken (日本语 能力 试 験, JLPT). It contains 4 levels, the most difficult of which tests the knowledge of 1926 hieroglyphs.
