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Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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As a translation and localization industry professional and a team member of
Globalization Partners International (GPI), I am involved with multiple
projects across multiple languages. I get a firsthand look at the intricacies,
complexities and histories of languages around the world.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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Asian languages are the epitome of intricate and
complex, and with a long history, these
languages are especially fascinating. For this
blog, I will briefly discuss the details and history
of Japanese Kanji.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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History
Kanji is the oldest written form of language in recorded human history, and it is comprised of over 10,000 characters. It originated in ancient China and was used in China, Korea, Vietnam and Japan. Currently, Vietnam and Korea have their own written languages and no longer use Kanji, although you can occasionally see some characters still being used. While their pronunciation is different, the meaning of Chinese characters and Japanese Kanji are, for the most part, the same.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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For example:
Each character was originally created by drawing a picture to represent what was being communicated. Once you understand the structure of the Kanji characters, especially when several characters are combined to create a word, it becomes easier to understand, and it all begins to makes sense.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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Scripts
Kanji is one of three scripts used in the Japanese
language. Children are first taught Hiragana at
school, as well as its counterpart, Katakana, which
is used to write western words.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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Around the first grade, students are introduced to simple, single-stroke Kanji.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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By the time they finish elementary school
(6th grade), Japanese students will have learned
approximately 1,000 Kanji characters. Then by
the end of high school, that number grows to
approximately 2,000.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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If you do not know how to write certain phrases in Kanji, you can always use
Hiragana.
Hiragana is similar to the basic English alphabet. Each individual Hiragana
character does not have any meaning when written alone and is used
phonetically. If you do not know my name in Kanji you can always write it in
Hiragana: 堤→つつみ. However, writing complete sentences using only
Hiragana can look childish and reflects on your education and academic level.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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For example:
"I am from Wakayama-city in Wakayama prefecture."
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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Written in Japanese with Kanji:
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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The same sentence written in Hiragana:
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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The sentence written with Hiragana
looks like it could have been written by
an elementary school student.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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Character Structure
Kanji often consist of several parts: some are singular components, while others are made up
of several different Kanji combined into a singular character. Thus, there are effectively
two different types of characters: those that use one Kanji component standing alone (that
represents a single word), as well as those that are made up of two or more Kanji characters
combined to create a more complex character. These are illustrated below.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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Single Kanji Characters:
http://japaneseforfun.weebly.com/kanji.html
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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Combined Kanji Characters:
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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Most Kanji characters consist
of two characters together.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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The left side represents the type or category of the
meaning of the word and the right side is the descriptor.
The example above, the Kanji character on the left
represents "day" and the Kanji character on the right
represents "blue" which translates to "blue sky." When
these two characters are combined, they become the
phrase "sunny day."
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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The left side of this Kanji represents wood or tree and the right side represents something flat.
Tree + Flat = wooden board.
As mentioned, Japanese people may not know every single Kanji they come across, however they can always guess its meaning based on its components and context.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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If you see the above characters and don't know what this Kanji combination is, you can make a guess based on the two characters used. Since the Kanji combination uses wood on the left, you can tell that it has something to do with wood or a tree. The right side has the Kanji character for flower. This tells us that the word must be for some sort of flowering tree.
The same goes for many names of fish, as most incorporate the basic Kanji for fish: 魚. If you go to a Sushi bar you may notice that their green tea mugs have the names of fish on them.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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For example:
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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SummaryOnce you understand and begin to recognize the
structure of the Kanji characters, they no longer
seem so strange. For beginning or intermediate
users, a little bit of knowledge goes a long way,
and it can be fun to try and decipher what a new
character means. The complexities of the Kanji
characters create a beautifully visual language.
Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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Japanese Kanji: A Shared, Visual Language
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