In the rain as in the sun, how about a walk in the forest? We have seen a lot of words on the subject of nature and animals, so we might as well stay in the same lexicon.
As you already know, words composed of a single kanji have a purely Japanese pronunciation. Words consisting of two or more kanji have Sino-Japanese pronunciation. Explanations on most vocabulary words await you in the conclusion.
Let’s get started.
林 .
はやし
. the wood, the forest
道 .
みち
. the way, the road
雨 .
あめ
. the rain
雲 .
くも
. the cloud
霧 .
きり
. the fog
竹 .
たけ
. the bamboo
松 .
まつ
. the pine
森林 .
シリン
. the woods and forests, the wooded region
林道 .
リンドウ
. the forest path
竹林 .
チクリン / たけばやし
. the bamboo forest
林冠 .
リンカン
. the canopy
山林 .
サンリン
. mountains and forests, the mountain forest
松林 .
まつばやし
. the pine grove
松葉 .
まつば
. the pine needle
雨風 .
あまかぜ / あめかぜ
. the driving rain, rain and wind
雨雲 .
あまぐも
. the rain cloud
霧雨 .
きりさめ
. the drizzle
雨水 .
ウスイ / あまみず
. the rainwater
雷 .
かみなり
. the thunder
雷雨 .
ライウ
. the storm
雷光 .
ライコウ
. the lightning
雲霧 .
ウンム
. the weather formed by fog and clouds
雲霧林 .
ウンムリン
. the cloud forest
風雨 .
フウウ
. wind and rain
日光 .
ニッコウ
. the sunlight
If you paid attention, you will have noticed several kanji that we have briefly seen throughout this first season so far.
Concerning the word "forest", we find the kanji 林 . はやし but we have already seen another kanji to say "the forest" : 森 . もり. The kanji 林 . はやし seems to be much more used than kanji 森 . もり; anyway both are to learn by heart.
Finally, the canopy, for those who ignore it, is the upper layer of a forest, made up of foliage directly exposed to solar radiation. You have to imagine that you see the forest seen from the sky and the whole leafy area, exposed to the sun, is what we call the canopy, like a crown of greenery which covers the forest from where the kanji of 冠 . かんむり which means "the crown, the tiara".
Besides, to come back to the small part on "Kanji keys" that we discussed before, I told you about the keys of the kanji located in the upper part of the character. However, if we take the kanji of "the rain" which is written like this, 雨, we find this kanji as a key located in the upper part of the following kanji :
雲 .
くも
. the cloud
霧 .
きり
. the fog
雷 .
かみなり
. the thunder
In the kanji 雷 . かみなり which means "lightning", we can notice the term « かみ » (god), which refers to the divine symbolism of thunder. At a time when humans could not explain certain natural phenomena such as thunder, these phemonones were often attributed to divine forces. And in Japan, centuries ago, lightning was considered the work of the gods, hence the pronunciation かみ in かみなり. The presence of the kanji in the rice field below may mean that the element of thunder or rain was associated with the crops.
The word 雲霧林 . ウンムリン which means "the cloud forest" is the name of an ecosystem, it refers to the tropical forests of altitude which almost always bathe in the fog from where the kanji of "cloud", 雲, and the kanji of "fog", 霧.
Finally, the word 日光 . ニッコウ which means "the light of the sun" is also the name of a very famous Japanese site located north of Tokyo. Nikko has magnificent temples and a very generous surrounding nature. I strongly recommend that you visit the place if you have the opportunity.
That will be all for this course. We have seen a lot of kanji since the beginning of this first season and I strongly advise you to learn them by reading, by writing, and soon we will begin the "Study of the Japanese numeral system" where we will discover even more other kanji.
Good revisions to all. And above all maintain your efforts, I suspect that for most of you, it is really very hard but keep it up ! At the end of this first season, you will have learned a lot of things !
Introduction