Your name in Japanese text
Aditi = アディティ
If anyone else want to know how your name is written in Japanese let me know.
If anyone else want to know how your name is written in Japanese let me know.
Which way to go?
One day, you might be traveling on the street in Tokyo’s busy neighborhood, Shinjuku. Please take a look at the below picture, and tell us in Japanese which way each sign points to. I hope the signs are big enough for you to read! (Just in case, from left to right, these are Ikebukuro, Nihonbashi, Yotsuya, Nishiazabu, and Shibuya.)
http://www.tropicalisland.de/japan/tokyo/pages/NRT%20Shinjuku%20Tokyo%20-%20busy%20street%20scene%20near%20Metropolitan%20Government%20Offices%20Towers%20known%20as%20Tokyo%20Tocho%2001%203008x2000.html
http://www.tropicalisland.de/japan/tokyo/pages/NRT%20Shinjuku%20Tokyo%20-%20busy%20street%20scene%20near%20Metropolitan%20Government%20Offices%20Towers%20known%20as%20Tokyo%20Tocho%2001%203008x2000.html
Numbers in Kanji 漢数字
Numbers in Japanese writing are expressed either in figures (0,1,2,3,4…) or in Kanji. For example, when you are traveling in Japan, you may notice lots of signs written in figures, at train stations, bus and airport terminals, and expressways, to help you find your way. When shopping, you’ll occasionally see a price tag that’s written using a combination of figures and Kanji numbers (especially items with prices higher than 10,000 yen). Sometimes you’ll encounter signs in Kanji numbers without any figure attached. In that case, the number is part of a proper name.
The numbers are probably the easiest Kanji characters you can learn so it’s the best place to start if you are interested in learning Kanji. I’ll show you the basics. Let’s start with the numbers 1 through 10.
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十
How do you read them? If you say:
ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyuu, juu, you are using on’yomi. This means that your pronunciation is based on the original Chinese sounds.
The number 4 and 7 are often read as yon and nana respectively in kun’yomi., the native Japanese pronunciation. Yon and nana seems to pop out as often, if not more than their Chinese counterparts shi and shichi. So you should also remember to read the numbers from 1 through 10 as:
ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyuu, juu.
Next I’ll show you how all of these Kanji numbers are read in kun’yomi, the native Japanese pronunciation. We use it when counting small objects up to ten,
一つ hitotsu
二つ futatsu
三つ mittsu
四つ yottsu
五つ itsutsu
六つ muttsu
七つ nanatsu
八つ yattsu
九つ kokonotsu
十 too
As is the case with most Kanji Characters, each Kanji number has at least two readings: one in on’yomi and another in kun’yomi; some of them even have more than two!
四 - yon, yo, and shi
九 - kyuu, ku, and kokono(tsu)
By the way, how you write these characters is important since it is a part of learning the old Japanese calligraphy using a brush and ink. You should always remember to draw the horizontal line from left to right and the vertical line from top to bottom as if you are making nice steady strokes with your brush.
I found an informative online Kanji dictionary. Find out the stroke order of each character, by going to the site below; scroll down to the search column, type in any of the Kanji numbers in Roomaji and hit Search.
Japanese Kanji Dictionary
http://www.saiga-jp.com/kanji_dictionary.html
The numbers are probably the easiest Kanji characters you can learn so it’s the best place to start if you are interested in learning Kanji. I’ll show you the basics. Let’s start with the numbers 1 through 10.
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十
How do you read them? If you say:
ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, shichi, hachi, kyuu, juu, you are using on’yomi. This means that your pronunciation is based on the original Chinese sounds.
The number 4 and 7 are often read as yon and nana respectively in kun’yomi., the native Japanese pronunciation. Yon and nana seems to pop out as often, if not more than their Chinese counterparts shi and shichi. So you should also remember to read the numbers from 1 through 10 as:
ichi, ni, san, yon, go, roku, nana, hachi, kyuu, juu.
Next I’ll show you how all of these Kanji numbers are read in kun’yomi, the native Japanese pronunciation. We use it when counting small objects up to ten,
一つ hitotsu
二つ futatsu
三つ mittsu
四つ yottsu
五つ itsutsu
六つ muttsu
七つ nanatsu
八つ yattsu
九つ kokonotsu
十 too
As is the case with most Kanji Characters, each Kanji number has at least two readings: one in on’yomi and another in kun’yomi; some of them even have more than two!
四 - yon, yo, and shi
九 - kyuu, ku, and kokono(tsu)
By the way, how you write these characters is important since it is a part of learning the old Japanese calligraphy using a brush and ink. You should always remember to draw the horizontal line from left to right and the vertical line from top to bottom as if you are making nice steady strokes with your brush.
I found an informative online Kanji dictionary. Find out the stroke order of each character, by going to the site below; scroll down to the search column, type in any of the Kanji numbers in Roomaji and hit Search.
Japanese Kanji Dictionary
http://www.saiga-jp.com/kanji_dictionary.html
Kana and Kanji かな と 漢字
You probably know that the Japanese writing system is based on two sets of kana letters and thousands of Kanji, the Chinese characters. And it can be quite complicated to write in three different scripts.
Kana refers to the two sets of Japanese syllabic letters called Hiragana and Katakana. Each set has 46 basic kana letters and some modified letters, which correspond to the same set of the sound. These sets of the Kana letters are used as the Japanese alphabet. All words are made using a combination of these letters. As does the Roman (English) alphabet, each kana letter is written with a few strokes; compare that with a typical Kanji character which has multiple strokes of fifteen or even twenty!
In fact, some Kanji characters can be very complicated to write down as they require many lines and dots, and some of these parts are often combined in other ways to form different characters. This is because each Kanji character has a specific meaning and concept rather than a mere sound. Humans are capable of conceiving innumerable concepts, and each can be expressed by a Kanji character. As a result, we have thousands of Chinese characters.
But why does Japanese use such a complicated writing system? Well, it has something to do with the way the system started. This is how: Not having a way to transcribe the spoken language, the ancient Japanese borrowed Chinese characters from their neighbor, China, and applied it to the Japanese word of the corresponding meaning.
This way, the signs and the meaning of the Chinese characters were adopted into Japanese, which had a quite different pronunciation system from Chinese. In addition, they even imported some characters and their Chinese pronunciations together for some word that Japanese didn’t have. (This is why every Kanji character we use in Japan has multiple pronunciations: at least one of Japanese origin, and another of Chinese origin.)
Furthermore, they had to tackle the problem of the difference in grammar between two languages; Japanese had parts of speech that were only functional and didn’t have any meaning. Since the Chinese characters always convey meaning, there was no corresponding Chinese character to apply for that instance, so they had to come up with their own letters. How? By simplifying Kanji, they invented kana letters to transcibe the sound of Japanese.
Katakana were made by simply taking various parts from Kanji.
イ ロ ハ ニ ホ ヘ ト
Hiragana were made by simplifying the flowing style of Chinese calligraphy.
い ろ は に ほ へ と
The Japanese writing system has evolved using Chinese characters for the past eighteen hundred years. In modern times, we use Katakana letters to write foreign words and names, Hiragana letters mostly for verb endings and particles, and Kanji characters for parts that convey ideas and concepts, all mixed in one sentence.
Here is an example.
ジェンさんは英語の先生です。- Jen is an English teacher.
(Jen-san wa eigo no sensei desu.)
For more information about how kana developed from Kanji, go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana#History
Here is a fascinating book for recognizing Kanji characters. You'll like it as your introductory book for Kanji. Highly recommended.
Kana refers to the two sets of Japanese syllabic letters called Hiragana and Katakana. Each set has 46 basic kana letters and some modified letters, which correspond to the same set of the sound. These sets of the Kana letters are used as the Japanese alphabet. All words are made using a combination of these letters. As does the Roman (English) alphabet, each kana letter is written with a few strokes; compare that with a typical Kanji character which has multiple strokes of fifteen or even twenty!
In fact, some Kanji characters can be very complicated to write down as they require many lines and dots, and some of these parts are often combined in other ways to form different characters. This is because each Kanji character has a specific meaning and concept rather than a mere sound. Humans are capable of conceiving innumerable concepts, and each can be expressed by a Kanji character. As a result, we have thousands of Chinese characters.
But why does Japanese use such a complicated writing system? Well, it has something to do with the way the system started. This is how: Not having a way to transcribe the spoken language, the ancient Japanese borrowed Chinese characters from their neighbor, China, and applied it to the Japanese word of the corresponding meaning.
This way, the signs and the meaning of the Chinese characters were adopted into Japanese, which had a quite different pronunciation system from Chinese. In addition, they even imported some characters and their Chinese pronunciations together for some word that Japanese didn’t have. (This is why every Kanji character we use in Japan has multiple pronunciations: at least one of Japanese origin, and another of Chinese origin.)
Furthermore, they had to tackle the problem of the difference in grammar between two languages; Japanese had parts of speech that were only functional and didn’t have any meaning. Since the Chinese characters always convey meaning, there was no corresponding Chinese character to apply for that instance, so they had to come up with their own letters. How? By simplifying Kanji, they invented kana letters to transcibe the sound of Japanese.
Katakana were made by simply taking various parts from Kanji.
イ ロ ハ ニ ホ ヘ ト
Hiragana were made by simplifying the flowing style of Chinese calligraphy.
い ろ は に ほ へ と
The Japanese writing system has evolved using Chinese characters for the past eighteen hundred years. In modern times, we use Katakana letters to write foreign words and names, Hiragana letters mostly for verb endings and particles, and Kanji characters for parts that convey ideas and concepts, all mixed in one sentence.
Here is an example.
ジェンさんは英語の先生です。- Jen is an English teacher.
(Jen-san wa eigo no sensei desu.)
For more information about how kana developed from Kanji, go to:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katakana#History
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiragana#History
Here is a fascinating book for recognizing Kanji characters. You'll like it as your introductory book for Kanji. Highly recommended.
 | Read Japanese Today: The Easy Way to Learn 400 Practical Kanji (Tuttle Languge Library) (Japanese Edition) (2008/11/15) Len Walsh View detail of this item |
Wa わ は
How do you read the above title? You say, wa - wa - ha? Good, you deserve an extra credit! But it could be read: wa - wa - wa. It depends.
