The Japanese Writing System: Academic Study Lesson

The Japanese Writing System
Academic Study Lesson
Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

The Alphabets

Kana
 Hiragana ( ひらがな )
 Katakana ( カタカナ )
 Represent all Japanese sounds
 Each alphabet is less than 50 characters

Kanji ( 漢字 )
 Chinese characters
 Over 40,000 Kanji
 2,000 Kanji = about 95% used in text
The Alphabets

Hiragana – curvier characters
 Grammar
 Particles
 Words with rare or difficult Kanji
 Colloquial expressions
 Onomatopoeias

Katakana – more straight lined characters
 Loan words
 Sound effects
Intonation
 In Kana
 Either a single vowel sound (a, i, u, e, o)
 Or, consonant + vowel
 The only exception is “n”

Unambiguous pronunciation
 However, watch homophones and high/low
pitches

Hiragana
 Irregular pronunciations (only a few)
 “Shi” ( し)
 “Chi” ( ち )
 “Tsu” ( つ )
 “Un” ( ん )
 Hearing pronunciations:
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/cover.html

You must learn the correct stroke order:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/7047/hboth.
htm
Hiragana – Muddied Sounds

More possible consonant sounds

Dakuten ( 濁点 )
 Two tiny lines affixed to character
 Appears like double quotation mark
 Examples: ざ　だ　が

Handakuten ( 半濁点 )
 Tiny circle affixed to character
 Appears like a degrees (temperature) mark
 Examples: ぺ　ぴ　ぽ

Hearing pronunciations:
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/cover.html

Hiragana – Muddied Sounds
 Irregular pronunciations
 じ and ぢ are pronounced as “Ji”
 づ is pronounced as “Dzu”

Hiragana – Small や , ゆ , and よ
 Combines a consonant with “Ya,” “Yu,” or
“Yo” sounds

The や , ゆ , or よ will be smaller or half-
width
 Hearing pronunciations:
http://www.sf.airnet.ne.jp/~ts/japanese/cover.
html

Hiragana – Small や , ゆ , and よ

With じ, all small や , ゆ , and よ sounds are
based off of “ji” sounds
 じゃ
 じゅ
 じょ

With し, all small や , ゆ , and よ sounds are
based off of “shi” sounds
 しゃ
 しゅ
 しょ

Hiragana – Small つ

Indicates double consonants
 Example: Issyoni  いっしょに
 Example: Bikkuri  びっくり
 Example: Happyaku  はっぴゃく

Pronouncing a double consonant
 A “clipping sound” – clipping with the right
consonant
 Example: いしょ versus いっしょ
 Example: もと versus もっと

Hiragana – Long Vowels
 Extending the duration of a vowel sound
 In Hiragana “a,” “i,’ or “u” is added depending
on preceding vowel
 あ = あ
 い, え = い
 う, お = う
 Rarely, え is extended with another え
 Rarely, お is extended with another お

Hiragana – Long Vowels
 Pronunciation
 Hold the vowel a little longer
 Example: おばさん versus おばあさん
 Example: ゆき versus ゆうき

Katakana

A little more difficult to master
 Spelling in Katakana can be tricky
 Not as much practice as Hiragana

Optional middle dot space is used for
Katakana Words ( ・)
 Example: ロック・アンド・ロール

You must learn the correct stroke order:
http://www.geocities.com/Tokyo/Shrine/7047/h
both.htm
Katakana – Long Vowels
 All sounds devoted by a dash ( – )
 Example: コンピューター
 Example: メリーランド

Katakana – Small a, i, u, e, o, and
tsu

Small ア　イ　ウ　エ　オ
 For sounds not originally in Japanese
 Example: “Vodka” = ヴォッカ

“V” in Katakana ( ヴ )
 Katakana ウ with a 濁点
 Japanese cannot pronounce “v” usually
 Sometimes, “b” is used in place of “v”
 Example: “Violin” = “ バイオリン” or “ ヴァイオリン”

Small ツ used again for double consonants
Kanji ( 漢字 )
 Used for
 Nouns
 Stems of adjectives
 Stems of verbs
 Adverbs
 Not impossible to study, but requires effort

Learning Kanji
 Tuttle Flash Cards
 Jim Breen’s WWWJDIC
 http://www.csse.monash.edu.au/~jwb/wwwjdic.ht
ml
 Big dictionaries
 Stroke order diagrams for thousands of Kanji

Reading Kanji

Onyomi ( 音読み )
 Original Chinese reading
 Compound Kanji usually read this way

Kunyomi ( 訓読み )
 Original Japanese reading
 One standalone Kanji usually read this way

Can have multiple 音読み and 訓読み

Can rarely have irregular pronunciations

All pronunciations must be memorized
Reading Kanji – Okurigana
 A string of Kana that comes attached with the
word

Keeps Kanji constant while Kana can change
 Example: 食べます versus 食べました
 Example: 行きます versus 行きません
 Also for distinguishing transitive and
intransitive verbs (another lesson)

Special Kanji
 々 Indicates repetition
 Example: “ 時々” = “sometimes”
 Example: “ 色々” = “in various ways”

Kanji Numbers
 One = 一  Eight = 八  Twenty = 二十
 Two = 二  Nine = 九  Thirty = 三十
 Three = 三  Ten = 十  Forty = 四十
 Four = 四  Eleven = 十一  Fifty = 五十
 Five = 五  Twelve = 十二  Sixty = 六十
 Six = 六  Thirteen = 十三  Seventy = 七十

Seven = 七  Fourteen = 十  Eighty = 八十
四
Zero = 丸 or ゼロ
Ways to Study Writing Systems

Writing
 Write all Kana characters over and over by hand,
following correct stroke order.
 Write each Kanji you study over and over by
hand, following correct stroke order

Books
 Various books have been published to assist
with familiarity of Kana and Kanji.

Kanji flash cards
 Tuttle flash cards were mentioned previously
Ways to Study Writing Systems

As you study Kanji, make up stories for your
Kanji to help you remember their meanings

Online resources
 Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese includes some
online resources and exercises for studying
Kana and Kanji

Podcasts
 Some Podcasts offer PDFs for free (Not
Japanesepod101.com) that aid with Kana and
Kanji study.

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The Japanese Writing System

Academic Study Lesson

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

Tae Kim’s Guide to Japanese

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