|
Japanese Writing Systems
The Three Systems Of Writing
Written Japanese combines three distinct styles of characters or symbols: kanji, hiragana, and katakana. A fourth style, romaji has also been developed, which uses the roman alphabet.
Hiragana (he-hrah-gah-nah)
Hiragana consists of 46 phonetic symbols, which in English is called a syllabary. Each character corresponds to a specific sound or grouping of sounds used in Japanese, enabling all Japanese words to be written phonetically. Hiragana is also used to write words in place of kanji obsolete in modern language, for words not derived from the original Chinese characters, or when the number of kanji in a sentence becomes too large as to be visually unaesthetic. The Japanese language contains many words with the same pronunciations, so kanji are also frequently used in place of hiragana to clarify meaning.
In modern Japanese. Hiragana is used to write: Japanese words with no kanji; Indications of how to read kanji; Common or everyday words which are apparently easier to read in hiragana than kanji; Grammatical particles; and Variation in endings for adjectives and verbs.
Katakana (kah-tah-kah-nah)
Katakana is an independent phonetic syllabary fairly comparable to English italics. Mainly used to represent foreign or emphasized words, katakana utilizes a one to one match with the hiragana syllabary.
In modern Japanese, Katakana is used to write: Words and names from foreign languages; Onomatopoeia; and Emphasized words (similar to italics in English).
Kanji (kahn-gee)
Kanji translates into "Chinese (kan) characters (ji).", illustrating its origins from China in the 6th C. AD. Similar to the Chinese hanzi in many aspects (with most discrepancies in pronunciation), Kanji basically represent ideas or objects. These kanji, combined with the other sets of characters such as Hiragana, create the meanings of words in the Japanese language.
Although tens of thousands of kanji have been used in the past, today, Japanese students learn about 2000 kanji until the end of high school and continue to learn more until the end of their academic lives. Consequently, the number of kanji a person knows and uses reflects his or her education. Mastering Kanji is a complex and arduous task, not only because of its large number, but in the understanding of each individual kanji adopting different meanings and pronunciations in combination with the other sets of characters as well as on their position within a sentence or word.
In modern Japanese, Kanji are used to write: Nouns; Stems of adjectives and verbs; and Japanese names.
Romaji (roe-mah-gee)
Romaji was developed as a means to write Japanese words phonetically using the Roman Alphabet, in place of hiragana, katakana, and kanji. As English is taught in Japanese schools from middle and high school, most Japanese can read romaji, increasing its usage in contemporary times.
In modern Japanese, Romaji are Roman characters, used to write: Acronyms; Numbers in horizontal writing; and International units of measurement.
Romanization of Japanese Characters
There are a number of methods of rendering Japanese in Roman letters. The Hepburn method of romanization, designed for English speakers, is a de facto standard widely used inside and outside Japan (and used in the English Wikipedia). The Kunrei-shiki system has a better correspondence with kana, making it easier for the Japanese themselves to learn; it is officially sanctioned by the Ministry of Education, but rarely used outside Japan. Other systems of romanization include Nihon-shiki and JSL. A comparison of the four main systems is given in the romaji article.
Nuances of the Writing System
One of the less well-known aspects of the modern Japanese writing system is that it allows for transmitting information usually done by using different words or by adding extra descriptive words in other languages. For example, Kanji watashi "I" is often used in formal writing and by both sexes. Hiragana watashi tends to be used in informal writing such as a diary or a letter to a friend and by a female. Katakana watashi is used only rarely; Katakana is primarily used to spell out foreign words. Romaji watashi is rarely used and when it is, is used with a special message in mind.
When a Japanese reader encounters the different script, he can infer the nuance and the subject of the sentence. In manga (to a lesser extent, video games), encoding information by script shifts plays a significant role as it enables artists to pack more information in a little space. For example, with the single word watashi in Katakana readers will expect a foreign character to appear next, without even a single drawing of a foreigner beforehand. This could also be used for a dramatic effect coupled with the conjugation of verbs.
A female disguised as a male could be written to use Kanji watashi when her secret is kept with the appropriate conjugation of verbs. Then when the secret is revealed, she would be written to use Hiragana watashi without taking off her disguise or any change in the way she is drawn. This technique could be inverted if a male is disguised as a female. With these techniques, even artists with limited drawing skill could represent different characters easily. This technique is used in other forms of literature, with similar or even more dramatic effects.
In addition to this, kanji compounds can be given arbitrary readings for stylistic purposes: in Natsume Soseki's short story The Fifth Night you can find an example of this.
This article was derived fully or in part from an article on Wikipedia.org. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
|
|
|
|
© Copyright 2005-2006 You Learn Japanese | All Rights Reserved
|
