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 あ sounds like ah like in la.
I い sounds like ee like in fee.
U う sounds like oo like in moo.
E え sounds like A, just as you would say the letter in the Alphabet.
O お 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 (だくてん、濁点), turns a syllable like ka か into ga が. For H, the handakuten (半濁点) or ° changes a ha は into a pa ぱ. 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 (かんじ、漢字) 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
一
A single stroke right to left.
A pictograph of a single extended finger.
ICHIgatsu 一月- January (First moon, first month)
kinITSU 均一- Uniformity
HITOtsu 一つ- one (The native Japanese word for one)
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Ni, futa-
TWO
2 strokes
Two extended fingers.
NIgatsu 二月 -Feburary, (Second moon, second month)
FUTAri 二人 - two people
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SAN, mi-
THREE
Three strokes
Three extended fingers.
SANsaro 三叉路 - three-forked road
MIkeneko 三毛猫 - tri-colored cat
YON, yon, yo-
FOUR
Five Strokes
Four was once shown by four fingers
, while 四 originally meant breath (that which emerges
from a mouth 口). was later ues as a phonetic subsitute for 四, but may have also been chosen since its shape was a rough approximation of the four fingers of a fist held palm side down 
.
SHIjunsetsu 四旬節 -Lent
YOkka 四日 -four days; the fourth day (of the month)
Yonjo 四女 -fourth daughter
GO, itsu-
FIVE
Four strokes
Five was once shown by five fingers 
. However, from ancient times a thread-reel
 (
 to
五) was used as a substitute, both for its sound and the fact that it replaced the five fingers when winding yarn.
GOjuuon 五十音 -Japanese syllabary
ITSUka 五日 -Five days, the fifth day
RIKU, ROKU, mu-
SIX
4 strokes
One popular theory claims that an early form
shows two hands of white the thumbs and index fingers are joined in a circle and the remaining three fingers are joined downwards. However
, is simply a stylistic variation of a still early form
. 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 六日 - six days, the sixth day (of the month)
RIKUgou 六合 -the universe, the cosmos
ROKkAku 六角 -hexagon
SHICHI, nana-
Seven
Originally
, with a longer lateral line than the character for the 十 , to represent 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 七星 -the Big Dipper, Urse Major
NANAmagari 七曲 - 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 八方美人 - a person beautiful from all angles, everybody's friend.
HACHIdou 八道 - the eight districts of feudal Japan.
YAoya 八百屋 -vegetable store; Jack of all trades, dabbling in all lines of knowledge.
Kyuu, KU, kokono-, ko
NINE
2 strokes
Originally written 
, 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 十 with a hook on the cross stroke to represent the concept of subtraction is incorrect.
KYUUshi issho 九死一歩 - a narrow escape from death
KUKU no hyou 九九の表- multiplication table
KOKONOka 九日 - 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
, and was used purely, as a substitute for the more complex character ten 拾.
JUUu 十雨- a refreshing rain once in ten days
TOe 十重- tenfold
TOUka 十日 - 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>
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Edited by: Manga no Manda at: 7/14/06 12:09