We took a look at the hiragana, then the katakana. Now is the time to look at the kanji. So, what are kanji ? It is often said that kanji are ideograms. It’s not wrong, but to speak in more detail, the kanji are logograms. I’ll quickly show you a few examples of kanji, so you can get an idea of what it looks like :
春
夏
秋
冬
四
You will notice right away that kanji has more lines than kana. They are more complex in terms of writing. To show you the difference between hiragana, katakana and kanji, I give you some examples below :
あ
い
う
え
お
ア
イ
ウ
エ
オ
春
夏
秋
冬
四
As you can see, it is not difficult to differentiate between these three writing systems. In addition, for this course as for all the other courses to come, I will use the same color scheme so that you can always make the difference between the three.
To return to the term « logogram », a logogram can correspond to an ideogram or a pictogram.
An ideogram is a drawing that represents an idea.
A pictogram is a drawing that draws an idea.
And when we talk about the Chinese logograms, we call them sinograms. However, to simplify our lives, we will use the same word as the Japanese. We will call these logograms kanji. This is the word that I will use from now on in all my courses, so this is the one you should remember.
Once again, for the little reminder, you may have noticed, but I don’t put an « s » in the words « hiragana », « katakana » and « kanji » when I speak in the plural. This is because these are typically Japanese words and when we write them in rômaji, they never take an « s ».
Kanji are drawings. And I insist on the word « drawings » because there are a few interesting things to know about how the human brain works.
As you know, the human brain is separated into two parts : the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere. And you have to know that there is a part of the brain that will read the drawings and the other part that will read the letters. Also, the left part analyzes the drawings and the right part analyzes the letters. And the kanji are drawings, they will therefore be analyzed by the left part, and the kana (hiragana and katakana) are syllables, they are like letters and will therefore be analyzed by the right part of the brain.
This makes the Japanese language very interesting because reading Japanese text composed of both kanji and kana makes the two areas of the brain work at the same time.
To give you an example by way of comparison, we can think of the highway code which has been designed in such a way as to solicit both hemispheres. We have panels, with different geometric shapes. The triangle to represent the danger, sometimes with small drawings to represent the nature of the danger, and a small panel below with an indication written in full. For example, you have a drawing of a cliff with collapsing sections, and on the small white panel is written in black capital letters « 100m ». The left part of your brain analyzes the triangular panel with the design of the cliff and collapsing sections while the right part analyzes the « 100m » written in black letters on a white background. And so, information passes much faster. It is very important, when driving, to record information in an instant. Driving on the road can be dangerous, there are dangers everywhere and you have to be able to quickly read and understand the signs while driving.
About the English language, it only works on an alphabet made up of letters. Thus, only the right part of the brain works. This is also one of the reasons why westerners who want to learn the Japanese language more easily remember kana than kanji.
The Japanese language is like the highway code. You will see as you progress sentences mixing kana and kanji, and you will have to get your brain used to reading both syllables and kanji, both letters and drawings. And you will see, through training and regular practice, you will succeed.
I warn you right away, you’re only at the beginning of your long apprenticeship and even after the first season, you’ll probably not be able to read whole paragraphs in Japanese yet. You will have to be patient and diligent, and I guarantee you will succeed. And then, the lessons are free, take advantage, it is important to me that you do not give up the case. You will be very surprised to be able to read and write as you progress... provided you practice again and again, of course !
We can now focus on the most important issue. What do kanji represent? In the course on the Japanese language writing, we briefly saw that the kanji represent words, ideas. We have seen above the words « pictograms » and « ideograms » which are two slightly different things. To help you understand better, I will give you some examples. We will start with pictograms.
The pictograms
人 . the person → imagine a pair of legs seen in profile walking and you have the kanji of « the person ».
火 . the fire → with a little imagination, we can recognize flames. (NOTE: this kanji is very similar to the kanji of « the person » but make no mistake, the two small lines on the left and on the right represent sparks.)
木 . the tree → the bar in the middle represents the trunk, the horizontal bar represents the branches and the two slightly curved bars represent the leaves.
森 . the forest → if a tree represents… a tree, several trees represent a forest.
山 . the mountain → with these three vertical bars, we can imagine a mountain or a mountain range.
土 . the ground, the land → we see a shape reminiscent of a tree with branches but without leaves. The line below represents the ground. The association of the leafless tree with the soil may be due to the fact that a tree is associated with the earth by its roots.
水 . the water → this kanji may not be obvious to everyone, we might think of flowing and splashing water.
目 . the eye → Obviously, an eye is not rectangular but, once again, you must understand that it is a pictorial representation. The upper rectangle represents the upper eyelid, the lower rectangle represents the lower eyelid and the middle rectangle represents the eye.
These first examples of kanji are pictograms. These are drawings that draw an idea. Well, those weren’t too difficult. Let’s move on.
The ideograms
We also have kanji that don’t look like the concept they represent. For example :
光 . the light → here you have to imagine a person seen in profile, kneeling before a fire. We find the flames that we have already seen in the kanji of the « fire ». Fire is the element that brings light and the person is in worship before fire, source of light.
犬 . the dog → when trying to visualize the shape of the muzzle seen from the front, this kanji can make you think of a dog. In this case, the kanji does not represent the animal in itself but a very specific part which allows to make an association of idea.
猫 . the cat → well, how can this kanji look like a cat. We find there the kanji of « the rice field ». What can a cat have to do with the rice field ? Even for me, I have a little trouble. Maybe this is the place where he walks around ?
馬 . the horse → the four small lines at the bottom are reminiscent of legs, the top look like a mane and the hook on the right, it may be his tail.
白 . white → this kanji is more abstract and represents the color white. He is not difficult to remember but difficult to see what is « white » in there.
鳥 . the bird → it looks a bit like the horse’s kanji... except that a bird does not have four legs. We recognize the kanji of the white color, perhaps because the birds that the Chinese saw most often were white? It’s a guess.
島 . the island → we easily recognize the kanji of « the bird » and the kanji of « the mountain », so how can that represent an island ? In fact, you have to put things in their context. At a time when the only way to travel from island to island was the boat with, as the only means of locating natural elements (well before the arrival of the compass), it should be understood that the navigators of the time, for have a fairly precise idea of where he was, scanning the horizon. And, the first sign indicating a nearby island are the birds. Some species of seabirds go out to hunt fish, sometimes on the high seas, without going too far from their nest. And who says nest says raised point, potentially a mountain, who says raised point says land, who says land potentially says an island. So, the kanji of « the bird » with the kanji of « the mountain » just below represents the idea of « the island ».
夢 . the dream → here is a kanji representing something very abstract. Difficult to say how it can represent the idea of the dream.
Here ! These kanji are more like ideograms. These are drawings that represent an idea, usually a simple idea.
Further explanations
It can be a matter of representing something concrete, physical (a person, a dog, a cat, the fire, the water…) or an element that can be visible, felt through other senses than touch but which has no concrete form, like light or dark. It can also be an abstract concept like dream, nightmare, fantasy, imagination... Everything related to feelings like happiness, sadness, boredom, anger, fury, fear, terror... are abstract concepts that kanji represent as images. There are a lot of kanji to represent lots of abstract notions in a pictorial form, hundreds and hundreds.
You should also know that the kanji were recovered centuries ago and even if the symbolism, the idea that represents the kanji has survived; for many of these kanji, the « how » the kanji was created and the « why » such a kanji represents such an idea has been lost. But sometimes, by searching the Wiktionary or thinking a little while looking at some kanji, you can find out what’s behind it.
We have seen with the kanji of « the island » that it is sometimes necessary to replace the kanji in the context of the time to understand why it was drawn in this way to represent the idea of « the island ». For other kanji, it is sometimes more complicated. For the kanji of « the horse » for example, it can be quite difficult for most people to see a horse with four legs, a tail and a mane.
If I tell you that, it because understanding how a kanji was created and what notion or animal or object it represents can facilitate its memorization. In addition to practicing in writing by regularly copying the kanji several times, which you will see little by little throughout your training. This last method is equivalent to a real head stuffing but learning a language is as much about understanding it as learning it by heart.
In order to represent ideas, more complex concepts than simply an animal, a person, a mountain, a box... kanji can be combined. I give you an example.
If I want to represent the volcano, I mean the idea of the volcano. What is a volcano ? When you think of « volcano », you think of a mountain and fire. So let’s take the kanji of « fire » and the kanji of « the mountain », and combine them by putting them side by side, like this :
火 + 山 → 火山 . Volcano
This is how the Japanese created new words. They combined kanji, and therefore associated ideas to express, represent new ideas, new concepts.
I will now give you another example where we are going to push the first example that we just saw above further.
If we want to say « Volcanoes chain », we will combine the kanji of « fire », the kanji of « mountain », and a new kanji, that of « the belt » :
火 + 山 + 帯 → 火山帯 . Volcanoes chain / Volcanic chain
As you can see, we can combine much more than two kanji to create new words. We can combine three, four, five, sometimes up to ten kanji (although the latter is rarer) and that is how the Japanese have created a wide range of vocabulary words to expand their language.
I give you another example :
If we mean « volcanic island », we will combine the kanji of « fire », the kanji of « mountain », and a new kanji, that of « the island » :
火 + 山 + 島 → 火山島 . Volcanic island
If we mean « volcanic rock », we will combine the kanji of « fire », the kanji of « mountain », and a new kanji, that of « rock » :
火 + 山 + 岩 → 火山岩 . Volcanic rock
Okay, so let’s set off on a whole new example. We’re going to take the kanji of « moving », 動. And we’re going to take the kanji of « thing », a kanji that simply means something, without defining exactly what it is, 物. If we put them together, it gives us :
動 + 物 → 動物
So what does this word mean ? We have the kanji of « moving » and we have the kanji of « thing », so that means « moving thing ». A thing that moves, that is animated, what can it be ? Well, this is how in Japanese, we say an « animal » :
動 + 物 → 動物 . Animal
It may seem a little pejorative to say that an animal is something that moves but if you look at the word in English, « animal » comes from the verb « to animate ». So even in English, we consider that an animal is something that is animated, a moving thing.
Now, if I add this kanji, 園, which means « park », this gives us :
動 + 物+ 園 → 動物園
So what does this word mean ? We know that word, 動物, means « animal », now we have the kanji of « park », so that means « animal park ». Well, this is how in Japanese, we say a « zoo » :
動 + 物+ 園 → 動物園 . Zoo, zoological park
This time, I think you got it right. In Japanese, we create new words by combining kanji. This is how the Japanese gradually expanded their language by combining kanji with each other, creating increasingly complex words.
It is very important that you understand how the Japanese language works. This will greatly help you in your learning. We have just seen here a basic principle of kanji, the combination, but, of course, things are a little more complex than that because these kanji, they have readings, they have pronunciations but all that, we will see much later once we’re done with the romaji and everything that revolves around kana.
For now, keep the basic idea : in Japanese, to create new words, we combine kanji. And by combining kanji, we combine ideas to represent other ideas.
This is the question that many learners ask themselves. To be completely honest with you, I think this is a subject that is still under debate. Some will tell you three thousand, others will tell you five thousand or even ten thousand if not more. One thing is certain, there are thousands of them, but rest assured, we consider that to speak Japanese fluently and to be able to read absolutely everything and anything in Japanese, be it manga, novels, the latest saga of heroic fantasy that is more than seven thousand pages or even the newspaper... you have to master about two thousand one hundred and forty kanji. This is also roughly the number of so-called « official », that is, the number of kanji that all Japanese must learn at school and master in their everyday lives.
Know that I look from time to time the list of official kanji to do my lessons but, of course, it is easy to understand that these official kanji are the most used kanji in everyday life and therefore the most important. You can imagine that a Japanese must know how to say « the bird », « the mountain », « the volcano »… All the kanji that we have just seen above are official kanji to master absolutely, there is no problem on that.
Also note that you will find all the official kanji in the Kanji To Kana, the absolute reference for all those who want to learn Japanese to perfection. To tell you quickly, you need of course the latest version of the Kanji To Kana because the list of official kanji can be updated from year to year. The Kanji To Kana ranks the kanji in order of importance, the most used kanji are at the beginning and the further you go towards the end of the book, the less important the kanji you can find because they are less used.
So, if you really want to master the Japanese language, you must master the two thousand one hundred and forty official kanji. Afterwards, in fact, it is considered that mastering five hundred official kanji, the basic ones, is enough to speak fluent Japanese and be able to have (almost) any discussion in Japanese. It’s a bit like in all the languages of the world that have thousands of words but, obviously, in everyday life, we only use a tiny part of it without ever using the rest. You can imagine that there are very common words that we use almost all the time, and other words that are part of a very specific lexicon, used exclusively in a professional context. For example, if you are not a scuba diving instructor, you are unlikely to use words like « absolute pressure », « hydrostatic pressure », « atmospheric pressure », « Valsalva maneuver », « decompression sickness », « pressure gauge »… on a daily basis.
That said, I strongly recommend that you learn as many kanji as you can. Obviously, throughout your apprenticeship, I will ultimately give you much more than 500 kanji to learn. In the coming courses, you will learn more about all the rules that revolve around kanji, pronunciations and all the rest. For now, remember that.
Now that we’ve seen the hiragana, katakana, and kanji, the question you’re probably asking yourself is how are we going to use all of this to form sentences ? In a sentence in Japanese, you can also find hiragana, katakana and kanji. The three writing systems blend perfectly.
To give you a more concrete example, observe this sentence :
青い帽子を買う。
I buy a blue hat.
We have above a simple sentence in Japanese with hiragana and kanji. I will now use a small color code to analyse this sentence.
青い帽子を買う。
I buy a blue hat.
We have a first kanji, 青, which is the kanji of the blue color. The hiragana い marks the adjectivation of the kanji 青, it is also said to be an okurigana because it follows a kanji, it is also the ending of the adjective. We have another kanji at the end of the sentence, 買, which is the kanji of the verb « to buy ». Also followed by the okurigana う, it is also the ending of the verb. The hiragana を is a particle, to be more exact it is the DOC particle that we will see in more detail in season two. Then we have the word « hat » which is made up of two kanji, 帽子. We will find this word much later, in season two, in a vocabulary course on clothing. The kanji are there to mark the semantics of the Japanese sentence. We finally have the final point, 。, you’ll notice that it’s a little bit special, it’s a big circle, not like our little end point in English. It is a punctuation mark specific to the Japanese language that we will see in more detail in a course devoted to Japanese punctuation.
Now let’s take another example, but this time includes katakana :
青いベルトを買う。
I buy a blue belt.
We find the kanji 青, which is the kanji of the blue color. And the hiragana い which marks the objectivation of the kanji 青. We find at the end of the sentence, 買, which is the kanji of the verb « to buy », followed by the okurigana う. We find the hiragana を which is the DOC particle. And then we have the word ベルト (beruto) in katakana. This is how the Japanese say the English word « belt ». This is how we include a word in katakana in a sentence in Japanese.
This course on the presentation of kanji is now finished, thank you for reading it until the end. Remember to revise this course as well as the previous courses, keep reading your katakana, practice writing until you memorize them, it will be useful for all the rest of your learning. Yes, I repeat myself but it’s for your good !
Also, don’t forget to get the Kanji To Kana if you want to get serious about learning kanji. This represents a small investment but it is essential.
With that, I give you your exercise. This time, it’s about learning how to differentiate between hiragana, katakana and kanji. So, this exercise is a little bit of everything we’ve seen so far. You now know that Japanese sentences mix these three writing systems, so it’s important to differentiate between the three. Be careful, some kanji have few features and look a lot like katakana, so be careful.
I wish you to revise your course well and see you next time.
Introduction