Welcome to Japanese.

Welcome to JapanesE By [Christopher Morris, Christopher.w.morris@kcl.ac.uk] An insight into the Japanese language with analysis of the hiragana, katakana and kanji alphabets.

As the title indicates, this PDF has been

become versatile due to an influx of

the structure of the Japanese language.

designed to introduce the Japanese

people from various countries. This has

This is not a teaching PDF, yet a unique

language in a comprehensive manner.

significantly improved and influenced

insight into the elements of contemporary

Japan is one of the most important

numerous teaching methods of this

Japanese. In conclusion, I would like to

nations being the third largest economy

language. Consequently however, there

invite you to Japanese, into the respected

in the world (Kyung, 2011), therefore, an

is a plethora of learning material which

culture, history and immediate knowledge

understanding of Japan, the language

can make it difficult for beginners to

of the basic principles behind this

and culture is now of great importance.

choose the most appropriate option

fascinating language.

With consistent growth in international

tailored to their individual learning needs.

diversification, Japan is at the center

It is against this background and in

of the South East Asian sphere of

response to this, that this book was

commerce. The changes within Japan’s

made. Welcome to Japanese, is aimed

social environment and teaching has

at anyone with an urge to understand

The images used within this document are referenced in the bibliography

Foreword

Contents

Consonant Based Alphabets The Japanese language is spoken by

borrowed from China in earlier history,

Japanese words constitute more than

the estimated 125 million inhabitants of

adapted into what is known as the

half of the total words, while the kanji

Japan, similarly by the Japanese living

kanji. The smallest but a rapidly growing

words average about 40% and the rest

in Hawaii and on the North and South

category of words borrowed in modern

drawn from the katakana. In newspapers

American mainlands. It is also spoken as a

times from Western languages such as

however, the words of kanji number

second language by the Chinese and the

English, is known as the katakana. This

greater than the Japanese native words

Korean people who lived under Japanese

third category also contains a small

(Miyagawa, 1999).

occupation earlier this century (Banno, 2009).

number of words that have come from other Asian languages. Studies by the

Three categories of words exist in

National Language Institute show that the

Japanese. The native Japanese words

frequency of these three types of words

constitute the largest category known as

varies according to the kinds of written

the hiragana, followed by words originally

material examined. In magazines, native

08

アイウエオ あいうえお かきくけこ カキクケコ さしすせそ サシスセソ

Hiragana represents every sound in the Japanese Language Hiragana is the first of the two alphabets,

Chinese readings) rather than their semantic

collectively known as the “Kana” and, is

value. Man’yōgana was initially used to

the basic Japanese phonetic script with

record poetry, as in the Man’yōshū

46 basic characters. Hiragana represents every sound in the Japanese language.

compiled sometime before 759 A.D., whereby the writing system derives its name

Therefore, you can theoretically write

(Holloway, 2010). The modern kana, namely

everything in hiragana. However, because

hiragana and katakana, are simplifications

Japanese is written with no spaces, this

of man’yōgana which are further explored

would create nearly illegible text. No full

throughout this PDF (Holloway, 2010).

fledged script for written Japanese existed until the development of man’yōgana [ which appropriated Kanji for their phonetic value (derived from their

11

あ a い i う u え e お o か ka き ki ku く ke け ko こ さ sa し shiす su せ se so そ た ta chi ちつ tsuて te と to

Basic Sentences Structures

1

2

3

4

これはほんです This is a book

これはいすですか Is this a chair?

5

6

すみません Excuse me, pardon me

ありがとう Thank you

Pronunciation 1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

kore wa hon desu kore wa isu desu ka hai, sou desu iie, sou jya ari masen sumi masen ari gato

はい、そうです Yes, it is

いいえ、そうじゃ ありません No, it is not

13

万葉仮名

Katakana [カタカナ]

ア a イ i ウ u エ e オ o カ ka キ ki ku ク ke ケ ko コ サ sa シ shiス su セ se so ソ タ ta chi チツ tsuテ te ト to

Adopted Western Vocabulary

Katakana is mainly used for words

use of katakana can be challenging for

imported from foreign languages and

native English speakers because they

supports 48 basic characters. It can

expect English words to sound English

also be used to emphasize certain

(Minna No Nihongo, 1998).

1

アメリカ

2

タクシ

3

ペン

4

レストラン

5

ソフアー

words similar to the function of italics.

Katakana represents the same set of

To the right hand side are a few examples

phonetic sounds as hiragana except

of adopted words, specifically derived from

all the characters are different. Since

western language. Given the combination

foreign words must fit into this limited set

of consonants in Japanese, the words have

of [consonants+vowel] sounds, there are

similar relationships.

a

ta

pe

re

so

me

ku

ri

America

ka

Taxi

shi

Pen

n

su

fu

to

a

ra

n

Restaurant

Sofa

instances where English speakers cannot understand words that are supposed to be derived from English. As a result, the

17

In Japanese, nouns and stems of adjectives and verbs are almost all written in Chinese Hanzi characters called kanji.

Adverbs are also fairly frequently written in kanji as well. This means that one is required to learn Chinese characters to be able to read most of the words in the language. The word kanji literally means “characters of the Han Dynasty of ancient China (206 B.C. - 220 A.D) (Holloway, 2010).

Due to the large number of words and concepts entering Japan from China

Many words entered Japanese directly from Chinese characters which had no native equivalent, many

. A kanji may have none, one, or

words entered Japanese directly, with

several on’yomi and kun’yomi. The same

a pronunciation similar to the original

character may be read several different

Chinese. This Chinese-derived reading

ways depending on the word. For example,

is known as on’yomi (

the character 行 is read [i] as the first

), and this

vocabulary as a whole is referred to as Sino-Japanese in English and kango in Japanese. At the same time,

Kanji [漢字]

syllable of iku (行く, “to go”), okona as the first three syllables of okonau (行う, “to carry out”), gyō in the compound word

native Japanese already had words

gyōretsu (行列, “line” or “procession”), kō in

corresponding to many borrowed kanji.

the word ginkō

Authors increasingly used kanji to

word andon (行灯, “lantern”) (Holloway, 2010).

“bank”), and an in the

represent these words. This Japanesederived reading is known as kun’yomi

19

会 胃 鵜 絵 惜 可 会 胃 鵜 絵 惜

Old & New Japanese

[a]

[i] [a]

[u] [i]

[e] [u]

[o] [e]

[ka [o]

名 弐 抜 根 名 弐 抜 [na]

With the introduction of the writing system

Japanese took place from about the

from China starting about 1,500 years

12th century A.D. to the 16th century,

ago, the Japanese people began to

A.D (Miyagawa,1999).

extensively record their language through poetry and prose. The language of that

Phoneticism - The phonetic representation

era, called “Old Japanese”, had a number

of sounds.

of features that have been lost through time. For example, it is argued that “Old

Phonetics - (fə-nĕtĭks) The branch of

Japanese” had eight vowels instead of the

linguistics that deals with the sounds

five that we see today. There were also a

of speech and their production,

number of grammatical and morphological

combination, description, and

features that no longer exist. The

representation by written symbols.

transition from “Old Japanese” to modern

(Phonetics, n.d.)

20

[ni] [na]

[nu] [ni]

[ne [nu

可 惜 可 気 区 毛 子 差 市 巣 背 祖 食 地 津 手 戸

a]]

[ka]

[ki]

[ku]

[ke]

[ko]

[sa]

[shi]

[su]

[se]

[so]

[ta]

[chi]

[tsu]

[te]

[to]

根 抜 根 野 葉 火 府 屁 帆 間 身 無 目 藻 屋 湯 世

e] u]

[ne]

[no]

[ha]

[hi]

[fu]

[he]

[ho]

[ma]

[mi]

[mu]

[me]

[mo]

[ya]

[yu]

[yo]

[Kun-Yomi] is the Japanese reading of kanji characters

1

11

2

15

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

20

Japan abandoned their own numerals many years ago

Numerical System Borrowing heavily from the Chinese, Japan

adopted the Chinese system. Certainly,

abandoned their own numerals many

the Chinese numerals have been used

years ago and used the ones from China.

within Japan for almost one hundred

When written and spoken, numbers are

years, as information exists dating back

broken down into their key components,

to 1936. Overall, the Japanese numeral

multiples of powers of ten. The Japanese

system is easy to read, potentially difficult

combine the number with ten, hundred,

to hear, and time consuming to write.

thousand, ten thousand, and so on to

However, being familiar with the symbols

create the desired number (e.g. 25 =

could easily speed up writing them without

[ni ju go]) (Leveillee, 2011).

[ć•°]

sacrificing clarity. Most numbers now are written using Latin numerals, the only

It is uncertain exactly when Japan

Japanese being used for the description

abandoned its own number system and

of the problem (Leveillee, 2011).

23

Mnemonics in Learning Kanji

Some kanji are pictograms, which are

discussed further on, or through learning

characters that pictorially represent

by association. This method allows the

certain things. While few in number,

learner to form a mental link between the

pictographic kanji are frequently used

kanji’s form and reading, ultimately making

in parts of other kanji so they can be

them easier to learn. This method has

considered fundamental characters.

been constructed over time to make kanji

Studying kanji through mnemonics is a

easier to remember by tying them to kanji

route by which some people prefer. Even

already learned (Tofugu, 2006).

kanji that seem dauntingly complex can be readily digested when broken down into their various parts. When faced with troublesome kanji, one can break the kanji down into the essential components

25

木川海 火山

Learn byMnemonics Association 1. 木 moku (tree, wood)

2. 川 kawa (stream, river) 3. 海 umi (sea, ocean) 4. 火 ka (fire)

5. 山 yama (mountain)

27

書道

Japanese calligraphy can be traced back to the origins of Chinese civilization In Japanese, calligraphy is called shodou

developed a considerable amount by the

(

time it arrived in Japan sometime around

, or “the way of writing�. Unlike its

western counterpart, it is widely practiced

the sixth century, at approximately the same

by people of all ages and all walks of life in

time that the Chinese system of writing

Japan. Indeed, all Japanese children have to

kanji was also being imported. Although

learn the basics of calligraphy as part of their

still practiced today, Japanese calligraphy

elementary school education (Miller, 1980).

is used as an art form rather than a conventional way of writing (Miller, 1980).

The history of Japanese calligraphy can be traced back to the origins of Chinese civilization and the creation of the Chinese writing system itself about 4,500 years ago. Calligraphy had already been

29

There are seven radicals used in kanji

Left (hen) Most common radical Right (tsukuri) Top (kanmuri) Bottom (ashi)

Upon close inspection of even the most

as independent characters. To the right

intricate kanji, reveals that they are made

hand side, the seven radicals are briefly

up of several simpler parts. In fact, the

demonstrated. Although brief, this is a

vast majority of kanji are combinations

clear example of how radicals work, how

of various subunits. The part that is most

to spot them and how they work in unison

closely tied to the character’s meaning

with other kanji (Masayoshi, 1990).

is called a radical. Depending on their position within a kanji, the radicals are classified into seven categories indicated to the right. Some radicals can stand on their own as kanji such as 人 (hito - person) and 本 (hon - book). While

others such as 行 and 子 are not used

Lower left (nyo) Upper left (tare) Enclosure (kamae)

漢字

会 胃 鵜 絵 惜 気 区 毛 子 市 巣 背 祖 食 津 手 戸

惜 可 差 食 地

Kanji Rules 1. Top to bottom

三三三

2. Left to right

川川川

3. Horizontal strokes precede intersecting verital strokes

一十

Kanji Stroke Order

Stroke order is a movement by which

Once the foundations are built upon, the

hiragana, katakana and kanji are written.

more complex kanji becomes, various

Arguably this is the most important

subunits will be evident that have been

element when learning Japanese because

previously memorized, similarly relating

without correct stroke order, characters

to the radicals previously discussed

can become obscured and written

(Menninger, 1969).

incorrectly. Given the history of kanji deriving from Chinese Hanzi characters

There are six rules to kanji stroke order

previously discussed, the logograms are

which will now be introduced on the left

constructed with a set amount of strokes.

hand side (Menninger, 1969).

Although difficult to understand and potentially master, stroke orders help with the memorization and learning process.

35

Finding Kanji in a Japanese Dictionary Many dictionaries list kanji characters

provided for each character. What if you

according to their pronunciation, for both

see a kanji, but you don’t know how to

on-readings and kun-readings, either in

read it? You could then use the radical

kana or Roman letters. Therefore, if you

index included in most dictionaries. In a

know the reading of a kanji character,

radical index, hundreds of combinations

you can simply find the kanji using the

of one specific radical are listed. This

dictionaries pronunciation based index.

however should be straight forward given

For example, an excellent reference is

the previous introduction into radicals.

“The Original Modern Reader’s Japanese-

Digital Japanese dictionaries are prefered,

English Character Dictionary” by Andrew N.

as it is very easy to find kanji supported

Nelson. This dictionary, like many has both

by hand writing abilities and can simply

the on-readings and their kun-readings in

be drawn onto the screen. Stroke order

Roman letters with a unique code number

knowledge however is crucial for this.

4. Center strokes precede smaller side strokes

5. Enclosures come first, but the bottom stroke is written last

6. Piercing strokes are written last

小小小 回回回 回回回

中中中 中

Working Together

Hiragana + Katakana + Kanji

Congratulations, you can now distinguish

in order to suggest the fluidity and manner

and recognize the Japanese kana

in which Japanese is fully written.

(hiragana & katakana) alphabets.

The translation is underneath.

Furthermore, you are now able to recognize kanji in it’s complex form and

“Since joining the company, he had not

should be able to identify a couple of

done anything special and had been

characters from the previous stroke

rather mediocre. However, in the recent

order demonstrations. With the individual

crisis he assumed leadership and got

alphabets analysed, now is an appropriate

us skillfully through it, and as a result he

time to piece them together and

has been re-evaluated by his colleagues

understand how they work in unison. To

and superiors� (Unger, 2003).

the left hand side, is a demonstration of this. This extract is an example sentence

39

With a brief introduction into the

100 Kanji” and a variety of online learning

from textbooks to internet sources,

fundamental concepts behind Japanese,

materials, are brilliant methods for

personal experiences and designers such

a further understanding of the language

furthering knowledge within this language.

as Kenya Hara and others. Ultimately

and structure should be achieved. With

The most effective method however,

offering a unique, niche perspective to

hiragana, katakana and kanji explored,

is to immerse oneself into the culture

introducing Japanese.

Japanese comes together to form a

and attend a language school within

fascinating language, yet arguably one

the country. Not only is this an excellent

of the most difficult to master. With

method to learning any language, yet a

passion towards the subject however, it

guaranteed approach to learning a vast

is possible to comprehend and develop a

amount in a limited amount of time.

further understanding into the language.

Material such as the “Minna no Nihongo”

This PDF has taken inspiration and

series (Everybody’s Japanese), “The Top

information from many sources, ranging

40

Conclusion

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