Kanji Symbols and Meanings
February 15th, 2012
Learning Kanji symbols and meanings may be difficult on account of the complexity of their strokes. These symbols are not letters which could be strung together to form words. In fact, every Kanji symbol depicts an idea (or word). The kanji symbols are pictogram or ideogram which are used to describe a particular idea. These are known to be the derivatives of Chinese pictogram. A gold seal with Kanji inscriptions imported by the Japanese men and women is an evidence of their Chinese origin. This gold seal was sent to Japan in 57 A.D. by the Chinese emperor of Han Dynasty.
The imperialist expansions by China had led towards the dissemination of the Kanji symbols to countries like Korea, Vietnam and Japan. Some of the Kanji symbols are a lot similar in appearance towards the entity they describe. For example, symbols for ‘sun’ and ‘tree’ virtually look exactly the same. Total number of Kanji characters, as per the ‘Dai Kanwa Jiten dictionary’ are approximately 50,000. If we add compound words to this list, the numbers climbs up to 53,000. The Chinese dictionaries nonetheless, contain far far more number of Kanji characters (approx. 80,000). 1 can read a Japanese newspaper without a lot problems, if he is aware of at least 3000 basic Kanji characters. Let us understand much more about Kanji symbols and their meanings through the paragraphs below.
Japanese Kanji Symbols and Meanings
The alphabets/symbols used in Kanji style of writing are classified into two kinds, i.e., Katakana and Hiragana. The Hiragana characters are commonly used in Japanese. Words that are needed for communication in day-to-day life could be found in Hiragana. The characters/symbols of Katakana are mainly used to write words from foreign languages. For eg., the foreign word, Tv, is pronounced as ‘Terebi’ in Japanese.
The Kanji symbols/characters are elegant and mysterious. Tattoos of Kanji characters are acquiring popular today. It really is nevertheless, critical to use every single and every stroke/lines found in these symbols accurately. Even slight mistakes can alter the whole meaning of these symbols. To avoid such problems, 1 need to either know Japanese by himself or get the tattoos done from professionals.
List of Kanji Symbols
Here is really a list of commonly used Japanese Kanji symbols. Understanding the Chinese Kanji symbols and meanings beforehand would be an added advantage to learn the Japanese ones. This is because, the Japanese symbols are derived from the Chinese language and converted into the Japanese language we see today.
Kanji SymbolMeaning in EnglishShinnenBeliefYuukanBraveryYabouAmbitionYokubouDesireTenshiAngelIgenDignityUnmeiDestinyJinCompassionEienEternityYumeDreamRyuuDragonKouunGood FortuneShunkashuutouFour SeasonsToukonFighting SpiritKazokuFamilyKokoroMind, Heart, SpiritRakuJoyChouwaHarmonyKoufukuHappinessSonkeiRespectJunsuiPureHaneiProsperityHeiwaPeaceChieWisdomGenkiWellbeingSeishinSpirit
Read far more on Japanese words in English.
History of Kanji Symbols
Chinese immigrants in Japan were the first to write documents needed for official purpose. The diplomatic correspondence between King Bu of Wa and Emperor Shun (Liu Song Dynasty) which took place in 478 A.D. is effectively known. The Chinese Kanji characters blended very nicely with Japanese language and were accepted widely in Japan. The ‘kanbun’ system acted as a bridge between the Chinese characters and Japanese rules of grammar. In this system, diacritical marks were used to pronounce Chinese characters in accordance with Japanese grammar. The Japanese language had no written type of its own. Therefore, Kanji characters enriched the Japanese language.
Studying Kanji Symbols
To learn the Kanji symbols, 1 need to first turn out to be aware of the Hiragana and Katakana scripts. Learning these scripts would help in understanding Kanji symbols quite easily. It’s crucial to practice the Kanji symbols by writing them. The computer-based indicates of translation makes it easy to learn Kanji. Nonetheless, practicing the symbols by writing them down helps in understanding the subtleties and nuances. The activity of writing helps a whole lot whilst reading because the specific strokes of Kanji symbols written in calligraphic style are better understood if 1 is used to writing them. Read much more on:Learn Japanese Language: Kanji Symbols and CharactersChinese CalligraphyCalligraphy AlphabetThe Kanji symbols and meanings presented within the table together with related data, ought to help in understanding the Japanese way of communication. Learning the Kanji symbols could be an arduous task, owing to their huge number. 1 ought to therefore, be prepared to function hard if he really wants to master the Kanji symbols.
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