Japanese script – Wikipedia

The Japanese writing consists of several writings. In the Japanese writing system, Kanji, Kana and Romaji are functionally used side by side as writing.

Die Kanji ( Japanese Chinese character ) Stemism of the Chinese script (Chin. Chinese character / Chinese character , Hànì ) and usually depict the word mate as logograms. Kana, d. H. Hiragana ( Japanese hiragana or Hiragana ) and Katakana ( Japanese Katakana or Katakana ), on the other hand, are syllable writings (more precisely Morenwritten) from the historic Man’yōgana, which is derived from the Chinese “grass script” (also conceptual letter). These three writings are in the ISO-15924 code with the abbreviation Jpan summarized.

The Latin alphabet, which in Japan, is used as a further writing in the modern Japanese language Chinese ( Japanese Roman letters ) referred to as. Numbers are written using Kanji or Arabic digits.

The different fonts have specific functions (e.g. Hiragana often for grammatical forms, Katakana mainly for foreign words, Kanji often for meaning). This historically grown complex font culture with the various writings is used in parallel in everyday texts.

Advertising poster from 1938 with three written directions. Above the name of the product on the left: Mitai Vari ( n mi we do ken ri ), the same name on the flush shown: RIKEN Vitamin ( ri ken vi ta mi n ), on the box next to it from top to bottom.

In Japanese, words are usually strung together without spaces and separated at almost any places at almost any places at the end of the line or columns (depending on the “rule”, however, not directly in front of a punctuation mark or a small Cana). The characters are written in squares of equally large. B. in the Latin script, where an “i” is much narrower than an “M”, each character (including punctuation marks) receives the same amount of space, so there is a little more empty space around narrower or smaller characters. However, proportional fonts are often used in the document, so that a Beyond In the vertical sentence, for example, no more square.

In traditional Japanese, as in the classic Chinese, it is written from top to bottom, whereby the columns are strung together from right to left. This writing direction is used nowadays in literary texts, newspaper articles and manga.

(Subject) texts that contain many Rōmaji (Latin characters), as well as (horizontal) information signs are mostly written in horizontal lines from left to right nowadays-only in the historical name signage of old buildings or similar. Today you can still see the traditional horizontal spelling from right to left. Vehicles and ships are sometimes labeled on the right side and rightly labeled on the left. In newspapers, both the horizontal and vertical writing appears, sometimes also mixed.

Kanji [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

Yamada ( Yamada ) Tarō ( Taro ) – v. l. No. – Japanese personal name in Kanjis

Kanji ( Japanese Chinese character ) Means Han signs, ” He “ (chin. Chinese / Chinese ), Japanese reading ” Able to “( Japanese Chinese ), as a synonym for China or Chinese.

To understand the following, it is helpful to know that the Japanese and the Chinese language are neither related nor typologically similar.

The writing itself, in the form of the Chinese signs, came to Japan via Korea at the latest from the 5th century. Originally, texts were recorded in pure Chinese, the so-called Kanbun, a style that was used with reading aids, starting with the setsuwa literature of the 9th century, for official documents in a modified form until the end of the Second World War.

The Kanji (in contrast to the Kana) have an independent meaning and are also referred to as logograms, which in turn can be divided into three groups: pictograms, ideograms and phonograms. Many Kanji are composed of several (often two) reduced characters. Those ideograms among these components that often stand for the core meaning of the respective Kanji and according to which they are ordered in Kanji-Lexika are called radicals or Bushu; The other element in two -part characters often refers to the original Chinese pronunciation, which is generally not identical to the Japanese pronunciation. As a result, a relatively small number of own Japanese Kanji was developed, the so -called “country signs” (more precisely: “state -owned characters”) or Kokuji, such as: B. Work (Dō, German Work ), Boss (Tsuji, German Crossroads ) and Pass (Tèrge, Delisch Bergpass ).

Many Kanji have two or more different readings that can be summarized in two groups:

• The on-yomi (literally: “Sound reading”) is also called Sino-Japanese reading (in which three subgroups are distinguished after the time of the reception). It was derived from Chinese (it is a variant of the original Chinese pronunciation of the sign adapted to the Japanese sound system) and is therefore often Chinese reading called. The on-yomi is mostly used when a sign stands together with other Kanji to give a composed word (more precisely: composite or syllable). On-yomi are mostly given in aging lists (such as in lexicons) with Katakana, often in capital letters when writing such lists.
• The Kun-Yomi (literally: “concept reading”) is also called Reinjapanische ^[first] Reading. Such a reading is usually a Japanese inheritance word (which does not come from the Chinese), for which the characters were only adopted in terms of its meaning, but not from the sound. This reading is mostly used (but not always) when a Kanji stands alone and forms an entire word itself. Kun-Yomi are mostly reproduced with Hiragana in pronunciation lists, often in small letters when writing the lists.

Almost all of the Kanji, with the exception of a few Kokuji, have one or more on readings, but not all of them have art readings. The often several different on readings of a single character were created by the fact that many characters were adopted several times at different times or epochs from different parts of China, and thus also the different pronunciation of the sign in the different Chinese languages. Which of the readings is to be used in each case with the Kanji combination, in which the sign appears.

It says in Japanese legends (10th book of the Nihon Shoki) that a Chinese scholar called Achiki (Japanese Kudara), a state in today’s Korea, acting Chinese scholar. A Zhiqi , above. Ajikgi ) In the 15th year of the emperor ōjin (corrected date: 404) was sent to Japan and teacher of the heir to the throne Uji No Waka-Iratsuko ( Koji Kohiro ) became. At Achiki’s recommendation, the scholar was Wani ( Wang Ren , Korean Wang-in , chin. Wang-ren ) Invited to the courtyard of the Yamato Empire and brought over by Aredawake and Kamu-Nagi-Wake in the spring of the second month of the 16th year (under ōjin) from Baekje. ^[2]

Wani brought the Chinese characters to Japan in the late 4th century to teach Confucianism, and the Chinese books Analists of the Confucius and the Millet classic thousand to bring to Japan. ^[3] Wani is mentioned in the Kojiki and in the Nihon Shoki. It is unclear whether Wani really lived or is just a fictional person, because the version of the known today Hazard sign classic Did only later, at the time of the reign of Emperor Liang Wu Di (502-549). Some scientists thought that Chinese works found their way to Japan as early as the 3rd century. It is certain that from the 5th century of our era at the latest, the Kanji were imported in several waves from different parts of China. Today is the classic spelling of the Chinese texts for Japan Kanbun.

After the Second World War (1946) the number of “characters for everyday use” ( Use Chinese characters Tōyō-kanji ) The Ministry of Education (Mext)-more precisely “Office for Cultural Affairs”, Bunka-Chō, subdivision of the “Mext”-first reduced to 1850 characters and in 1981 it was used by replacement and adaptation to the Jōyō-Kanji ( Common Chinese characters ‘Charits for general use’ ) somewhat expanded to 1945 characters. In 2010, the number of Jōyō-Kanji was set to 2136, which are also taught at school. Official texts and many newspapers are limited to these signs and reflect all other terms in Kana. In addition, there are another 580 so -called Jinmeiyō Kanji, who are only official for use in Japanese proper names.

Basically, the Kanji correspond to the traditional Chinese long signs. However, some characters were with the letter reform in Japan (“Problem of the National Characteristics of the Japanese language”, Mandarin Chinese characters Kokugo Kokuji Mondai ) Simplified (see Tōyō-Kanji from 1946), in a similar way, but less radical than the short signs in the Chinese font reform from 1955.

In total there are more than 50,000, but in the majority but unused Kanji. Experienced Japanese often (at least passive) over 5000 Kanji, which is particularly necessary to read literary texts. In some of the scholars, such as law, medicine or Buddhist theology that have been in existence, the mastery of up to 1000 other Kanji, which play a role in this area, is provided. However, these are technical terms. Modern professional fields such as science and technology usually write their technical terms in Katakana or in Latin.

Japanese texts for adults can be “read” at high speed if necessary. Since the essential content is written with Kanji and complex terms can also be shown with only a few Kanji, you can quickly grasp the meaning of a text by jumping from Kanji to Kanji, taking into account the other character systems. On the other hand, you can see from the overall share and the difficulty of the Kanji of a text for which age or educational group it was preferably written.

Due to the strong Chinese influence on Korea, Kanji (Cor. Hanja) have traditionally also been used in Korea, but since the cabo reform at the end of the 19th century.

Overall, the number of Kanji used is decreasing more and more, which may also be due to the fact that due to the electronic writing aids of Japanese text processing systems today exist today, the younger Japanese still read them, but especially the rarer Kanji can no longer write more and more. In numerous print media, the associated Kana (Furigana) are now printed through complicated Kanji.

Man’yōgana [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

The development of his own Japanese script by writers and scholars began around 600 by reducing the Chinese characters to their sound value. The phonetic word sound of the Chinese words was used, but the actual meaning of the signs used in this way neglected. This was initially used to reproduce Japanese local and personal names.

The first anthology of Japanese -language poetry was published around 760 Man’yōshū , in which the signs transferred into Japanese were used according to their sound, i.e. as a phonetic lard. Based on this anthology, this wrote was referred to as Man’yōgana. Not at all or in compositions -Gome comes from the bonus of ‘Borrowed names’ (see loan word).

At this point, however, the problems of this script also revealed. The sometimes very similar sounding sounds were not used according to a specific system, but according to their exterior. The design of the writing and the aesthetic effects achieved with it played a crucial role for the poets. Because of this, not only the Man’yōgana was used according to the feeling, there was also a mixture of Man’yōgana and Chinese ideograms. Since both do not differ from the external form, it is problematic for the reader whether the signs are to be interpreted in their phonetic or content meaning. Furthermore, this writing was very complex and complicated. For the often iled Japanese words, several complicated Chinese characters were needed.

However, despite the problems of the still immature lettering system, the then court state saw no need to develop a uniform and simple writing system. The Chinese poetry was still a great role model for the educated, so that it was part of the good style of the time to write its poems in Chinese. The Man’yōgana were not viewed in the elite and, in their view of poetry, were only suitable for writing diaries, notes or love letters.

Not at all [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

It was only in the 9th century that the so-called Japanese syllable or more precise Morenus, the so-called Not at all ( Japanese Pseudonym / Temporary character / pseudonym ). They are syllable alphabets in which the individual, highly simplified signs have no independent meaning, but reproduce louds and sound combinations. The subdivision of Japanese syllables in time units (Moren) can be seen in the writing by the fact that in addition to syllables from a vowel or a consonant with the following vowel, the second part of a long vowel or diphthongs, the syllable clasp n and the stuffed sound can be reproduced by your own Kana. A CASA sign corresponds exactly to one more.

Due to the Buddhist monk Kūkai, the necessary changes in Japan, which initiated the development of the Kana, i.e. the syllable. Kūkai was one of the most important religious teachers. He is still worshiped by the Japanese today, because he not only had a great religious influence on the development of Japan, but was also a talented poet and one of the first linguist of Japan. Japan owes his own writing to Kūkai.

Kūkai was informed of two Indian masters in Sanskrit in 804 in order to read the Sutres, who are still studying in Japan, in the Chinese translation, in the original language. During this time he also learned the syllable Siddham, in which the Sutrs were written. After returning to Japan, he started transferring the Sanskrit texts into Japanese as precisely as possible. However, the pronunciation of the Sutrs can only be reproduced very inaccurately by the Chinese transcription; The Japanese syllables are more suitable for a more precise pronunciation, since the Japanese has a greater variety of syllables due to many multi -syllable words.

In his Shingon School, one of the most important Buddhist currents in Japan, he conveyed his knowledge of the Sanskrit texts with the help of the sound signs. After his death in 835, his apprenticeship continued.

As a result, the sound signs were increasingly used in writing. The letter in the phonetic writing was customary by 900, favored by Japanese poets, who wrote down her works with noisy signs. This in turn ensured that Japanese literature began to solve from the Chinese.

During this time there was also a simplification of the Manyogana, which until then still had the shape of the complex Chinese signs. The characters were shortened and sanded down.

Since a certain sign had prevailed for every More Japanese, the Morchen sign was arranged in an alphabet at the end of the 10th and early 11th centuries. This fifty sound panel is still common today.

In the 12th century, the Chinese signs and the syllable sign were linked, so that they complemented each other and corresponded to the grammatical conditions of the language. The Japanese writing system was created in its common form. The Kanji are used for the word stem of the nouns, verbs and adjectives, the grammatical form of words is illustrated by the attachment of Japanese sound signs.

The resulting syllable writings are under the term Not at all summarized and can be found in the so -called Hiragana and Katakana organize. The ISO-15924 code for the summarized Kana is Hrt , while Not at all The code for the Katakana and Conversation that is for the Hiragana.

See also: drainage panel of the Kana sign

Hiragana [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

Development of the Hiragana from Man’yōgana

The Hiragana -MAGE for the syllable MU

Hiragana ( Hiragana or hiragana ) were developed in the 9th century and primarily used by noble women, since for women, both the study of the Chinese language and learning the Kanji were considered inappropriate. Hiragana is sanded italic forms of the Man’yōgana described above, so they seem relatively simple shaped and rounded. Over the years, a single sign for every possible Japanese syllable prevailed. This was classified in an alphabet that systematically built up, based on the model of the Siddham script of the Sanskrit at the time, the only alphabetical script that was known to some scholars through Buddhism in Japan. This alphabet that Fifty-sound panel , still serves to alphabetical arrangement in Japan, for example in dictionaries; Words written in Kanji or Katakana are classified according to their Hiragana inscription. In addition, there were still historically writing variants of the Hiragana, which are referred to as Hentaigana (deviating Kana).

Japanese children first read and write everything in Hiragana who are already learned in preschool before they gradually and gradually go on to learn the Kanji from the first school class (example: Hiragana means Hiragana written in Hiragana and hiragana means Hiragana written in Kanji). In texts for adults, Hiragana is used primarily for pre- and suffixes, for grammatical particles (Okrumigana) and for such Japanese words for which there is no Kanji or for which the Kanji is so rare that it is considered with regard to the readers do not want to use. Many Hiragana are also used in private letters, as it is rude to the recipient to impress them with their own education.

When using little -known or not yet learned Kanji (e.g. in school books) and irregular pronunciation, the correct pronunciation in the form of small Hiragana is written about (with vertical spelling to the right of). Such Hiragana are as Furigana ( Furigana ) designated.

Katakana [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

The Katakana -MAGE for the syllable MU

Katakana ( Katakana or Katakana ) were developed and served by Buddhist monks, especially the Shingon sect and served as reading aid for Chinese religious texts and as a kind of stenography that was used to write down in religious lectures. They mostly emerged from individual elements of complicated Kanji and are particularly simple shaped and angular. Due to their futuristic appearance, they are sometimes used outside of Japan for design effects or even for science fiction films (e.g. the green character cascades, which run over the screen in the films of the matrix trilogy, but also from digits also made of mirror-converted Katakana).

Today Katakana primarily serve to highlight, similar to the Italic letters in German. Advertising, manga and consumer goods lettering use accordingly many Katakana.

They are also used for loanwords and names from other languages, for which there are no Chinese characters. In recent years, artist and place names from Korean and Chinese have been mainly portrayed with Katakana in order to follow the original in pronunciation. For mostly important people of political life and history, the takeover of the Chinese (Kanji) characters remains common – for example, Máo Zédōng (Chinese Mao Zedong / Mao Zedong , W.-G. Mao Tse-Tung ) in Japan als „Mō Takutō“ ( Japanese Mao East I’m already ) referred to, according to the Japanese pronunciation of the Kanji of his name. Here is the name “Máo Zédōng” of the original high Chinese pronunciation in – Katakana Mao Zoton , Hiragana Mao / Ton , nach shinjitai –Kanji Mao East , respectively mao-tsō-ton .

When using Katakana, on the other hand, the foreign language word is not implemented based on the original orthography, but solely for pronunciation, so that, for example, from Toys “R” Us in katakana Toysarasus ( to-i-for-r-s , TOI-ZA-RASU ) becomes.

Scientific names of animals and plants are also written with Katakana, whereby there has been a certain trend back to the Kanji notation in recent years. In language theory, Katakana indicate the on reading of a Kanji.

See also: Gairaigo – Jap. Transliteration or loanwords from abroad

Chinese [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

Both Chinese ( Roman letters , Roman (= Latin) characters ) is the Latin alphabet.

The Latin characters came mainly through Portuguese Jesuit missionaries to Japan, who traveled to the country in 1544 shortly after the landing of the first Europeans to spread their faith. In 1590 the first print press was brought from Portugal to Japan. This and other pressed presses brought them for twenty years login (Christian prints), which were written in Latin, Portuguese or Romanized Japanese.

After that, due to Japan’s conclusion, the Rōmaji disappeared almost completely from Japan and only gained importance again after the country was opened. The American doctor and missionary James Curtis Hepburn wrote the first Japanese-English dictionary in 1867 WAEI GORIN SHūsei ( Integrated with English forest ), and developed a Latin transcription system, the Hepburn system named after it.

Rōmaji are used for marketing purposes today because Japanese written in Rōmaji is supposed to appear particularly modern and international, and uses to be transferred by Japanese signs so that foreigners find their way better. Since all students in Japan also learn English, all Rōmaji also learn. There are three recognized transcription systems from Japanese briefs to Rōmaji: In addition to the Hepburn system, which is mostly used in practice, there is also the Nippon system and the art system. The Nippon system is a modified form of the Hepburn system and after ISO 3602 Strict standardized. The art system is in turn a modified form of the Nippon system and after ISO 3602 standardized. In addition, there are some other transcription systems that have less meaning, e.g. B. JSL. Since these are usually derived from one of the recognized systems, they can be read without major problems from the knowledgeable of another system.

Vocal with stretch marks (ā, ī, ū, ō, ō) can only be displayed on computers since the spread of Unicode. They were not included in most of the signs used in front of it such as ISO 8859-1. Likewise, most computer systems do not support native input of these characters, which is why they are practically not used in the non -professional area. A spelling has therefore been established on the Internet, which is based on Hepburn instead of the vowels with expansion signs, but consistently used vocal doubling. ^{[4] [5]} As a result, a clear assignment of the words remains phonetically, which would no longer be given when the strain signs were left out.

Rōmaji have now become the standard method for computer inputs for the Japanese, since almost all computers have English keyboards in Japan. In order to write Japanese on a Japanese computer, you usually spell the individual syllables in Rōmaji, which initially appear on the screen as Kana. This romance is as Wāpuro rōmaji (from Engl. word processor ) designated. Both Hepburn and Kunrei- und Nippon Romanization are essentially accepted. Special features of this system are that long vowels are entered with two vowel signs in accordance with their Kana notification and that small Kana is x can be entered.

For the submitted syllables, the computer offers a list of possible Kanji or Kanji combinations from which you can select the right term. After confirmation, the syllables are replaced by the selected term.

The alphabetical order of the syllables, such as it is used in Japanese telephone books or lexicons, follows the lines of the “50-sound panel”, which in Japanese gojoon is named and which in turn goes back to the arrangement of the sounds in Sanskrit and the Brahmi script.

There is not exactly 50 in both Hiragana and Katakana, but each 46 Grund-Cana (just sound) . By 1945 there were 48 each; Since a starting In- except in the syllable of was no longer articulated, the signs for wi and we ( ゐ and ゑ or. ヰ and ヱ ) abolished and by the vowels i and It is ( stomach and picture or. stomach and workman ) replaced. Only that where ( of or. ヲ ) Despite the same pronunciation as the vowel, remained O preserved, but only in its function as a particle for the accusative object, since it provides a valuable service for the quick capture of the set structure; Since this particle always in Hiragana ( of ) where ( ヲ ) also abolished in practice, it practically only appears in Katakana tables. All other uses of where were … By O replaced.

The characters, which have not been common since 1945, are in round brackets in the following table. The bracketed (W) indicate that an English) W used to speak there, but no longer in today’s Japanese.

Diakritika [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

For example, two accent signs and smaller attached vocal letters have been used systematically since 1945, before that only in cases of doubt and in the mood of the writer. With alphabetical arrangement, you will be assigned to the corresponding unaccepted sign.

Consistency – clouding [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

Some cana can be added by adding two small lines ( ◌ ゙ ) – Dakuten Turbidity or Nigori turbidity , ugs. ten ten Dotted – or a small circle ( ◌ ゚ ) – Handakuten Semi -cloudy point or maru Circle – are changed in the pronunciation to obtain further syllables. Dakuten (Nigori) makes it voiced loudly or “clouded”. Hand acute (Maru) transformed h ( f ) in p and therefore only with characters from the h -Series used. This is how dakutes k → g , s ( TS ) → With N, t → d , h ( f ) → b and ch ( sh ) → j . With hand acute (Maru), on the other hand, in the h -Series h ( f ) a p .

Examples [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

• By means of a dakut (nigori) of k → g – Example: mosquito = power = the → but = Ma = for , for example in “Hira for that “ – Hiragana – hiragana (German Hiragana – Japanese Moren script )
• By means of a dakut (nigori) of h ( f ) → b – Example: debt = centre = hu ( was ) → Flutter = Buckwheat = this , for example in “Kon this ” – – Konbu – kelp (German Konbu – Essbarer SeeTang )
• By means of a dakut (nigori) of h ( f ) → b – Example: Ho = Ha = to → Blur = Bo = bo , for example in “San bo ” – – Sacrifice – Three treasures (German Three treasures – Buddhism )
• By hand acute (Maru) from h ( f ) → p – Example: debt = centre = hu ( was ) → Plate = P = could , for example in “On could ” – – Onpo – Note (German Musicalnote )
• By hand acute (Maru) from h ( f ) → p – Example: Ho = Ha = to → ぽ = Po = after , for example in “Ho IP after ” – – Ho -Ippo – Step -by -step (German Step by step – adverb )
• By means of a dakut (nigori) of s ( TS ) → With ¹ – Example: vinegar = vinegar = are → figure = For = to , for example in “SU to me“ – Spinning – sparrow (German sparrow )
• By means of a dakut (nigori) of t → d – Example: rice field = rice paddy = I → is = Da = and , for example in “Hane and ” – – Spoiled – Handa (German Haneda – district in the Tokyo district ōta )
• By means of a dakut (nigori) of ch ( sh ) → j – Example: death = Sacrifice = si (shi) → character = Ji = from the ( Of , day ), for example in “Kyū from the ” – – Cucumber – Salary (German Servant – waiter, running boy, office aid )

annotation

¹ S – like the S in A s T and Z – like the S in S Aft spoken

Palatalization – break (ligature) [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

With the palatal or so -called broken sounds (Digraphen or yō·on ) – They occur when reproducing Chinese loanwords – follows one i Fushering syllable ( ← · the best , second column) one (reduced) with and Starting ( Yes · Dan , eighth line). Together they form a common syllable, so that either only one j -Alaut is spoken or it is completely omitted: from pi and little yu ( ぴ / Pure ) becomes pyu , a s(h)i Followed by small they ( book / Show ) would write a German “scho”.

KataKana also offers other opportunities for foreign words to map non -occurring syllables in Japanese by also syllables on other vowels with small versions of the vowels ( Aa , For , ゥ , E , ォ ) be combined. Those who fell in 1945 ヰ ( wi ) and ヱ ( we ), for example, through hare ( in ) plus vowel can be replaced ( Wei and Wafer ) if the sounds occur in a different language; In addition, at War in contrast to ヲ the In pronounced. With Nigori, the vowel finally becomes a consonant syllable: Ve = vu (dt. wu ), which in turn can be combined with the other vowels, e.g. B. Vi = we . Out of are and to ( vinegar , For ) plus i becomes and and day . SCHE/SHE/MORE , -/is that and tsche/che/if become from the syllables i ( Sacrifice = s(h)i , Ji = z(h)i/ji , blood = Ti/Chi ) with a small one It is ( E ) educated. At t and d On the one hand, the syllables are on It is ( Tan , Deed ) with a small one i to of or. Of connected, on the other hand the O ( door , De ) with a small one in ( ゥ ) to that and of . The syllables tsu ( tsu , dt. to ) and centre ( fu/hu ) can finally be with a , i , It is and O to be combined so that that in falls away. The latter can also be from the small yu can be followed: Fu ( become ).

Iroha-jun [ Edit | Edit the source text ]

In addition to the fifty-sound panel, the order is occasionally still iroha-jun ( Iroha ) used. It is a “alphabet” from the second half of the 10th century in the form of a song in which every possible syllable occurs exactly once ( Yilu Boge IROHA-UTA ):

The Katakana specified reflected the original pronunciation at that time, in today’s Japanese some of the words sound a little different. The sign hmm n missing, since it was only introduced as an independent sign to a relatively short time ago; In the past, people wrote for a spoken n As a makeshift Madness MU which is also the case in this poem. But the two of the signs abolished after 1945 are found ヰ wi and ヱ we .

Over the centuries, the Japanese script has developed into the most complicated writing system in the world. Many Kanji can have more than five different, rarely up to almost a dozen different readings. In addition, a spoken word can be written without general rules for this, both with different Kanji and with different Okrasigana variants (Kana for the “endings” of a word). Finally there are words that can be composed of different Kanji: For example, the word adopted from the Portuguese tobacco (Cigarette, tobacco) with the Kanji for Rauch and Gras reproduced, but not pronounced as this Kanji is usually read. This development culminated in the Meiji period, although it was more common than today than today, the Kanji Furigana (small Kana next to or via the Kanji for pronunciation instructions) to keep the writing legible.

Since the Meiji era, there have therefore been several considerations in Japan to radically reform the Japanese script. The proposals range from a limitation to the syllable (such as in the Korean) with a largely avoidance of Kanji to a complete switch to the Latin script (similar to how it happened in Turkish).

So far, this failed due to numerous factors:

• Japan has had far -reaching literacy for several centuries, which is why the Japanese script is deeply rooted in culture. In the 19th century, Japan was even the most alphabetized country in the world for a while.
• The large libraries and the millennia -old extensive writing culture would only be accessible to a few scholars and/or all would have to be transferred to a new system. In the event of a change, the risk that subsequent generations can no longer read the old writing system.
• When writing, for example, only with Kana would a text be longer.
• The Japanese language, especially with the words adopted from Chinese, has an unusually large number of homonyms that could no longer be distinguished in Latin inscription or in Kana. With just a little more than 100 different possible syllables, the Japanese language is relatively “poor” of sounds – in contrast. B. to the Chinese, which knows about 400 different syllables. This is why the context of a word is often important in the Japanese to determine its meaning.
• Some peculiarities of Japanese culture would also be lost in this way. For example, there are several different spellings for many first names, from which the parents usually select one according to aesthetic considerations: for example, the Japanese first name can Akira in Hiragana als Akira , in Katakana as Akira and in Kanji u. as bright , Light , Asahi , Focus , Sunrise , Stun , crystal , Well – , clear , Lingering , Sign or Chilly to be written. This name is an extreme example, but most names have at least two or three different spellings. (Compare e.g. in German the different spellings by Philipp or Meier.)

In 1946 the number of Kanji (“Kanji for daily use” was Use Chinese characters Tōyō-kanji ) reduced to 1850 (in 1981 95 came back when Jōyō-Kanji, Common Chinese characters ), the spelling of many Kanji simplifies, the number of readings of a Kanji significantly reduces and new rules for the use of Hiragana, Katakana, Okurigana and Furigana. Since 2010, a new Jōyō Kanji list with 2136 characters has been added, in which 196 Kanji was added and five removed from the old list.

For learning effort in school lessons, see school in Japan.

1. ↑ Bruno Lewin, Wolfram Müller-Yokota, Michio Fujiwara: Introduction to the Japanese language . Fourth improved edition. 4th edition. Otto Harrassowitz, Wiesbaden 1990, ISBN 3-447-03042-9, lesson 2, S. 54 , 2.2.2.1 ( preview In the Google book search): “The Chinese characters basically have two readings in Japanese use: a pure Japanese (so-called art reading) and a sinojapanic (so-called on reading).”
2. ↑ The literature of the east in individual representations. Volume X History of Japanese literature by Karl Florenz, Leipzig, C.F.Amelangs Verlag, Second edition, 1909, p. 7.
3. ↑ Volker Grassmuck: Japanese script and its digitization. In: Winfried Nöth, Karin Wenz (ed.): Intervals 2. media theory and digital media . Kassel University Press, Kassel 1999., ISBN 3-933146-05-4 (Chapter also online) ( Memento from January 6, 2007 in Internet Archive ), accessed on April 23, 2019; Sub -section “The characters of the He “.
4. ↑ Deviations from the Hepburn Convention at Anidb : Macron usage for long vowels Not accepted.
5. ↑ Rōmaji Convention of a Fansub Group : FULL ROMAJI in NAMES (YOUKO, NOT YOKO; Ryuuzouji, Not Ryuzoji etc).

• Nanette Gottlieb: Kanji Politics. Language Policy and Japanese Script . Kegan Paul International, London 1996, ISBN 0-7103-0512-5.
• YAEKO SATO HABEIN: The History of the Japanese Written Language . University of Tokyo Press, Tokyo 1984, ISBN 0-86008-347-0.
• Wolfgang Hadamitzky: Kanji & Kana – The world of Japanese script in one volume . Trial, München 2012, ISBN 978-3-86205-087-1.
• Wolfgang Hadamitzky u. in.: Langenscheidt’s large dictionary Japanese – German. Drawing dictionary . Langenscheidt, Munich 1997, ISBN 3-468-02190-9.
• Wolfgang Hadamitzky u. in.: Japanese-German drawing dictionary . Buske, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-87548-320-0.
• James W. Heisig, Klaus Gresbrand: Learn and keep the cana . Frankfurt am Main 2006, ISBN 3-465-04008-2.
• James W. Heisig, Robert Rauther: Learn and keep the Kanji. Meaning and spelling of the Japanese characters . Frankfurt am Main 2005, ISBN 3-465-03411-2.
• Wolfram Müller-Yokota: Scripture and written history . In: Bruno Lewin u. (Ed.): Language and writing of Japan . Brill, Leiden 1989, S. 185 ff .
• Christopher Seeley: A History of Writing in Japan . Brill Academic Publishers, Leiden 1991, ISBN 90-04-09081-9.
• Christopher Seeley: A History of Writing in Japan . University of Hawaii Press, Honolulu 2000, ISBN 0-8248-2217-X.
• Christopher Seeley: The Japanese Script since 1900 . In: Visible Language . Band 18 , No. 3 , 1984, ISSN  0022-2224 , S. 267–302 .
• Harald Suppanschitsch, Jürgen Stalph: Japanese language and writing . Campaign, München 2001, ISBN 3-89129-399-2.
• Jürgen Stalph: The Japanese writing system . In: Hartmut Günther, Otto Ludwig (ed.): Writing and written. An interdisciplinary manual of international research. (= Handbooks on language and communication science ). Band 10.2 . from Gruyter, Berlin 1996, S. 1413–1427 .
• Nanette Twine: Language and the Modern State. The Reform of Written Japanese . Routledge, London 1991, ISBN 0-415-00990-1.
• James Marshall Unger: Literacy and Script Reform in Occupation Japan. Reading Between the Lines . Oxford University Press, London 1996, ISBN 0-19-510166-9 ( abstract ( Memento from September 29, 2013 in Internet Archive )).
• Viola Voss: Scripture typology and the Japanese writing system . Weissensee, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-8998-017-4.
• Peter-Matthias Gaede (ed.): The imperial Japan (= Geo Epoche . No. 2 ). 2006.

• Materials for teachers and learners:

• Computer programs:
  • JWPce ( Memento from March 7, 2015 in Internet Archive ), Special word processing for Japanese as a foreign language, including dictionaries (free software, GPL, for Windows)
  • JFC (Free Software, GPL) to learn the Kanji ( Memento from July 17, 2014 in Internet Archive ) ( Also for Mac OS X )
  • Mine is an extension for Mozilla Firefox, with which you can look up words and Kanji. Dictionaries are u. Available for German and English (free software, GPL, English).
  • Kanji Dictionary KanjiQuick 2.2. -Download page ( Memento from December 18, 2017 in Internet Archive )-Kanji-German Dictionary, German-Canji with translation and TTS module (“Text to Speech”)
  • Kanji Gold (Freeware) to learn the Kanji (for Windows, English)
  • Kanji-Trainer -Free online learning program program with handwriting recognition and noticeable rates for every sign
  • KanjiGym Light ( Memento from September 18, 2013 in Internet Archive )-Freeware (for Java platform) for practicing and spelling the Kanji according to the Heisig system, see o. Heisig/Rauther: Learn and keep Kanji