JPN 30X: History of Kanji??

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Manga no Manda
 

JPN 30X: History of Kanji??

Unread postby Manga no Manda » Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:50 pm

Har. This is like a syllabus!

Many learn kanji books have a similar approach to helping student of Japanese learn and remember kanji: mnemonics(SP? Might be a U in there...), stroke order, history, etc.

I find that knowing the history- the first forms, the evolutions, and the first denotations- help me the most and are often fascinating to know.

The difficulty will increase as I cover the Jouyou Kanji- a list of Chinese characters chosen by the Japanese government as necessary- (about 1945 kanji), 1006 of which are essential for everyday living.

The book I will use for the 'course' would be:

A Guide to Remembering Japanese Characters by Kenneth G. Henshall (ISBN: 0-8048-2038-4; $29.95)

If you want to follow along or move ahead.

The order will differ from the book as I will choose kanji by grade and by the order established by the Japanese government as of 1997.

Every Week I plan to release a list of at least 20 kanji, their stroke order, origins, meanings, on-yomi (Chinese readings), kun-yomi (Japanese readings), and any other useful information.

The break down of the course would be as follows:
Grade One Kanji: 80 characters
Grade Two Kanji: 160 characters
Grade Three Kanji: 200 chacters
Grade Four Kanji: 200 characters
Grade Five Kanji: 185 characters
Grade Six Kanji: 181 characters
General Use Kanji: 939 characters

The course will be taught for as long as I am able and there are students to learn. I will gain as much from this as everyone else in many ways!

The purpose of the course is not to teach Japanese but to teach the Jouyou Kanji. However, it will be necessary to give a introductory explanation of pronunciation at the very least.

If enough people ask, I suppose I could teach a basic Japanese course but my position is that language is best taught with ears and mouth and not with eyes (unless you're learning to write, then you have no choice!)

It will also be possible for me to teach Hiragana and Katakana, the two kana alphabets derived from Chinese characters to be taught to women and layment during the Heian period and are now used in tandem with kanji. Since they have a history as well and there aren't that many of them to warrant a second course.

I also could create excercises and exams to go along with the course if students feel that they'd gain from it. Practice makes perfect and I'd encourage using the kanji that are learned as much as possible so that they are not forgotten. However, I can't force you to work and this is not a formal course for any school so the excercises and exams would be for the sole benefit of the student.

All interested parties say:

Hai, Sensei! <p>Image</p>

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Re: JPN 30X: History of Kanji??

Unread postby NamagomiMk0 » Fri Jun 30, 2006 2:38 pm

Hai, sensei! Kono jugyou ga suki desu! <p>"DO YOU THINK YOU CAN DEFEAT US? OUR TREASURE MAY BE HEAVY, BUT WE ARE LIGHT AS WIND. ONLY MAGICS MAY HURT US, BUT ONLY WE KNOW WHICH ONES." --Omoikane, Digital Devil Saga 2</p>


ManganoManda
 

Jim Breen rocks my socks.

Unread postby ManganoManda » Sat Jul 01, 2006 5:56 pm

That is my favorite online Japanese Dictionary ever.

It'll be a great help actually because I didn't know about that feature and planned to just do it manually. Now, I can conveniently link to it.

Image

Now I just have to draw the origin characters which shouldn't be too bad.


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PriamNevhausten
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Re: Jim Breen rocks my socks.

Unread postby PriamNevhausten » Sun Jul 02, 2006 5:23 am

Permission to drag non-normally-RPGWWers in to this? <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

ManganoManda
 

Kitto Daijoubu.

Unread postby ManganoManda » Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:55 pm

Please do. I've been so thrilled about this idea that I really want to teach it and I learned so many kanji this way I feel like I really should share what I've learned personally with as many people as I can, in hopes that I can help them with Japanese.

The more the merrier, I say.


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Re: Kitto Daijoubu.

Unread postby Idran1701 » Mon Jul 03, 2006 10:32 am

Hai Sensai! Always glad to get some more knowledge in historical linguistics. It's an awesome subject. <p>

"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
</p>

Manga no Manda
 

An introduction and example

Unread postby Manga no Manda » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:11 am

This how I plan to structure Lesson posts, with more kanji space allowing

(A special thanks to Zemyla and Idran for helping me figure out the whole character thing!)


ICHI, ITSU, hito-,
(Capitalized words are the on-yomi, or the Japanese approximation of the Chinese pronunciation of the kanji at the time it was introduced to Japan. The uncapitalized words are the kun-yomi, or the native word. All words will have on-yomi, but not all words will have kun-yomi.)
ONE(English Translation)
1 stroke (Stroke amount! Really self-explanatory.)

&#19968;&#12288;(The Kanji!)

A single stroke right to left. (Stroke order. I properly emailed Jack Helpern about using his images in this course so until he emails me back, I won't use his images. In the formal course, there will be a basic writing explanation that should help you figure out how a character is written just be looking at it and it's components. For now, we'll settle with a written explanation. Ideally, I'd like to show video and photobucket seems to allow for video uploading or I might use YouTube. We'll see when Mr. Helpern responds.)

(Explanation) A pictograph of a single extended finger.
Image


(Vocabulary bank to show examples of how the character is used.)
ICHIgatsu &#19968;&#26376;- January (First moon, first month)
kinITSU&#12288;&#22343;&#19968;- Uniformity
HITOtsu&#12288;&#19968;&#12388;- one (The native Japanese word for one) <p>Image</p>Edited by: Manga no Manda&nbsp; Image at: 7/3/06 14:41

Idran1701
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Re: An introduction and example

Unread postby Idran1701 » Mon Jul 03, 2006 2:47 pm

This example lesson does bring to mind one question I've had about kanji for a while. Is there any way to know which kun-yomi or on-yomi to use for reading a given word by context, or is it just memorization of each word that's necessary for knowing that? <p>

"Never let your morals get in the way of doing what is right" - Salvor Hardin
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Manga no Manda
 

Re: An introduction and example

Unread postby Manga no Manda » Mon Jul 03, 2006 2:53 pm

If the kanji is in a compound with another kanji, you're going to be using the on-yomi, as a general rule. Which on yomi to use is a matter of knowing the word, however, usually there are only one or two on-yomi so figuring out the right combonation wouldn't be to hard.

As for kun-yomi, at some point it almost becomes intuitive (but it helps to have the word in your vocabulary) which reading to use and they're often paired with hiragana to give you a clue as to what part of speech it is and that is a big hint as to which kun-yomi you would be using. <p>Image</p>

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Re: An introduction and example

Unread postby PriamNevhausten » Mon Jul 03, 2006 11:30 pm

<s>Okay, so I can't see the kanji earlier in the thread, presuming the kanji actually is there; I get question marks instead. Now, I've heard others can see this, but I'm not sure which encoding I don't have enabled on my terminal. What sorts of things am I messing with here?</s>

MAN THIS CHEESE IS TASTY. Also, Idran is the Rockmeister. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>Edited by: [url=http://p068.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=priamnevhausten>PriamNevhausten</A]&nbsp; Image at: 7/4/06 4:33

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Re: An introduction and example

Unread postby PriamNevhausten » Tue Jul 11, 2006 3:14 pm

I don't mean to be impatient, but when is this thing looking to start? This other guy I was thinking of seems to be dragging his feet, and while I would like him to be involved, I would rather not at the cost of everyone else's instruction. <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>

Manga no Manda
 

Sugu

Unread postby Manga no Manda » Wed Jul 12, 2006 3:24 pm

Okay, I'll start tomorrow then.

It also seems that Mr. Helpern is fairly busy. I was hoping to hear from him on using the gifs but he hasn't contacted me back about whether or not I can use them so I won't until he gives me a definitive answer.

Look back here in the afternoon.


Manga no Manda
 

Formal Lesson One

Unread postby Manga no Manda » Thu Jul 13, 2006 3:39 pm

For our first lesson I want to focus on two sets of things the first ten numbers and the seven kanji for which the Japanese days of the weeks are named.

The first ten numbers are the basis for all numbers up until one hundred. And the days of the week are basic elements but also the simple kanji used are found in a variety of other words.

First, let me explain Japanese pronunciation for anyone not familiar with it. The Japanese use a syllabary, that is to say that one syllable is represented by each vowel, consonant, or consonant-vowel pair.

A &#12354;&#12288;sounds like ah like in la.
I &#12356;&#12288;sounds like ee like in fee.
U &#12358;&#12288;sounds like oo like in moo.
E &#12360;&#12288;sounds like A, just as you would say the letter in the Alphabet.
O &#12362;&#12288;sounds like oh like in oh.

The consonants K(G), S(Z/J), T(D/J), N, H (B,P), M, Y, R, and W sounds for the most part like their english counterpart. I could try to explain how they sound properly but there really isn't too much point since sound is hard to explain without hearing.

However, I will explain that the consonants in parentheses, are called "voiced" consonants. The " or dakuten &#65288;&#12384;&#12367;&#12390;&#12435;&#12289;&#28609;&#28857;&#65289;, turns a syllable like ka &#12363;&#12288;into ga&#12288;&#12364;. For H, the handakuten (&#21322;&#28609;&#28857;)&#12288;or ° changes a ha &#12399;&#12288;into a pa&#12288;&#12401;. This is true for the rest of the vowel pairings of these consonants.

Thats enough about pronunciation, I think! Let's start understanding kanji. I know we're all eager to get into the meat of the lesson which would be the acutal explanation of each individual character but I think is necessary to first go over how China developed its righting style and how Japan acquired and adapted the Chinese characters to their culture.

Now the characters for the word kanji &#65288;&#12363;&#12435;&#12376;&#12289;&#28450;&#23383;&#65289; are the same that Mandarin speakers use for their native writing system only they pronounce it "hanzi". The first character means Han as in Han Era China and the second simply means character, or written letter.

I encourage everyone to go here and read this article. And as a supplement read the article on "Kanji" as well. These articles with help with the appreciation of this really wonderful writing system. Besides they save on space, here that would better be dedicated to explaning kanji. If there are any questions about the articles feel free to ask me to clarify and I'll do my best to be explain or elaborate.

Now on to the lesson.




ICHI, ITSU, hito-,
ONE
1 stroke

&#19968;

A single stroke right to left.
A pictograph of a single extended finger.
Image
ICHIgatsu &#19968;&#26376;- January (First moon, first month)
kinITSU&#12288;&#22343;&#19968;- Uniformity
HITOtsu&#12288;&#19968;&#12388;- one (The native Japanese word for one)
<hr/>

Ni, futa-
TWO
2 strokes

Two extended fingers.

NIgatsu&#12288;&#20108;&#26376; -Feburary, (Second moon, second month)
FUTAri &#20108;&#20154;&#12288;- two people

<hr/>
SAN, mi-
THREE
Three strokes

Three extended fingers.

SANsaro &#19977;&#21449;&#36335;&#12288;- three-forked road
MIkeneko&#12288;&#19977;&#27611;&#29483; - tri-colored cat



YON, yon, yo-
FOUR
Five Strokes

Four was once shown by four fingers Image , while &#22235; originally meant breath (that which emerges Imagefrom a mouth&#12288;&#21475;). was later ues as a phonetic subsitute for &#22235;, but may have also been chosen since its shape was a rough approximation of the four fingers of a fist held palm side down&#12288;Image.

SHIjunsetsu&#12288;&#22235;&#26092;&#31680; -Lent
YOkka&#12288;&#22235;&#26085; -four days; the fourth day (of the month)
Yonjo&#12288;&#22235;&#22899;&#12288;-fourth daughter




GO, itsu-
FIVE
Four strokes

Five was once shown by five fingers&#12288;Image. However, from ancient times a thread-reel Image&#12288;&#65288;Image&#12288;to
&#20116;&#65289;&#12288;was used as a substitute, both for its sound and the fact that it replaced the five fingers when winding yarn.

GOjuuon&#12288;&#20116;&#21313;&#38899; -Japanese syllabary
ITSUka&#12288;&#20116;&#26085; -Five days, the fifth day




RIKU, ROKU, mu-
SIX
4 strokes

One popular theory claims that an early form Image shows two hands of white the thumbs and index fingers are joined in a circle and the remaining three fingers are joined downwards. However Image, is simply a stylistic variation of a still early form Image. this was in fact a roof, and originally had that meaning before being sued as a phonectic subsititue for a complex character meaning clenched fist, whish was an old way of showing six.

MUika &#20845;&#26085; - six days, the sixth day (of the month)
RIKUgou &#20845;&#21512; -the universe, the cosmos
ROKkAku&#12288;&#20845;&#35282; -hexagon



SHICHI, nana-
Seven

Originally Image, with a longer lateral line than the character for the &#21313; , to represen&#65364; and mean a line cutting another. It was one of several characters used phonetically to express seven, and was proboably especially favored since it roughly resembled a bent finger under a fist, an old way of signaling seven.

SHICHIsei&#12288;&#19971;&#26143; -the Big Dipper, Urse Major
NANAmagari&#12288;&#19971;&#26354; - a tortuous or spiral (path)




HATSU, HACHI, ya-
EIGHT
2 strokes

Once written )( , symbolizing splitting/dividing. Some scholars feel it was later used for eight since it is a readily divided number, others that its shape was clsoe to the old way of showing eight by bending down the three middle fingers and extending the thumb and little finger. In compounds, often found as / \or \ / ,with a meaning of divide/disperse away/out.

HAPPOU bijin &#20843;&#26041;&#32654;&#20154; - a person beautiful from all angles, everybody's friend.
HACHIdou&#12288;&#20843;&#36947; - the eight districts of feudal Japan.
YAoya&#12288;&#20843;&#30334;&#23627; -vegetable store; Jack of all trades, dabbling in all lines of knowledge.



Kyuu, KU, kokono-, ko
NINE
2 strokes

Originally written&#12288;Image , depeicting a bent elbow. In ancient times a bent elbow was used to indicate the number nine when counting with only one arm. the commonly heard explanation that it is the character for ten &#21313;&#12288;with a hook on the cross stroke to represent the concept of subtraction is incorrect.

KYUUshi issho &#20061;&#27515;&#19968;&#27497;&#12288;- a narrow escape from death
KUKU no hyou &#20061;&#20061;&#12398;&#34920;- multiplication table
KOKONOka &#20061;&#26085; - nine days, ninth day (of the month)




JUU, tou, to
TEN
2 strokes

Usually explained as two lines crossing to symbloize the four main directions, which in trun expressed the concept of completeness and by association all the fingers, i.e. ten. However, this seems a confused version of its acutal origin. It derives from a depiction of a sewing needle Image, and was used purely, as a substitute for the more complex character ten&#12288;&#25342;.

JUUu &#21313;&#38632;- a refreshing rain once in ten days
TOe &#21313;&#37325;- tenfold
TOUka &#21313;&#26085; - ten days, tenth day (of the month)


Now I'd like to open the thread for any discussion or questions about these ten kanji. If there is nothing, I'll continue with elements next. <p>Image</p>Edited by: Manga no Manda&nbsp; Image at: 7/14/06 12:09

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Re: Formal Lesson One

Unread postby PriamNevhausten » Tue Jul 25, 2006 11:34 pm

Is there a reason why "Ni" looks like the katakana for the same syllable? <p><span style="font-size:xx-small;">"It's in the air, in the headlines in the newspapers, in the blurry images on television. It is a secret you have yet to grasp, although the first syllable has been spoken in a dream you cannot quite recall." --Unknown Armies</span></p>


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