Kanji Learning - Basic
Introduction to Kanji
The origins of kanji can be traced back to China 3,000 years ago. Around the 5th century these written representations of 'real' objects and abstract ideas were introduced to Japan. What distinguishes the Japanese writing system from the Chinese one is the use of hiragana and katakana. These two phonetic writing systems, which represent the words as they are pronounced, are used in conjunction with kanji to make up the
Japanese writing system.
There are exceptions, but kanji can be read in two ways, on-yomi and kun-yomi described below:
*On-yomi:Japanese reading of the kanji which originally came from the Chinese pronunciation
*Kun-yomi:pronunciation of a original Japanese word represented by a kanji according to it's meaning.
Almost all kanji are comprised of at least 2, or more, components. Many kanji are actually made up of combinations of other kanji. There are commonly shared parts throughout the kanji system. These are called radicals and there are 214 of these core components. It is also important to note that these radicals have a source meaning. That is, the kanji that are built around them usually have something to do with the central meaning of the radical.
Procedures For Writing Kanji
1. Horizontal strokes: from left to right
2. Vertical or slanting strokes: from top to bottom
3. Hook strokes: from top left to right or left bottom
4. The center stroke first followed by the left and then right strokes
5. The outside strokes first, followed by the middle strokes
6. The horizontal stroke first followed by the vertical stroke
7. The left-hand slanting stroke first, followed by the right-hand slanting stroke.
It sounds all a bit too complicated, doesn't it?
Do NOT fret as throughout our kanji lessons together we will provide you with the EXACT stroke order. This will help you learn kanji and the way that each one is formed without agonizing over which rule to follow and when.
Japanese language contains more than 80,000 kanji symbols. Given below are some of the basic kanji you should learn. In the later chapter we will learn how this kanji is used in place of
hiragana words. In later chapters we will also learn some of the more advanced kanji.
| Kanji |
English |
 |
One |
 |
Two |
 |
Three |
 |
Four |
 |
Five |
 |
Six |
 |
Seven |
 |
Eight |
 |
Nine |
 |
Ten |
 |
Hundred |
 |
Thousand |
 |
Ten Thousand |
|
| Kanji |
English |
 |
Day |
 |
Moon |
 |
Fire |
 |
Water |
 |
Tree |
 |
Gold |
 |
Earth, Soil |
 |
Big, Elder |
 |
Small, Younger |
 |
Book |
 |
Person |
 |
Mouth |
 |
Rice, Paddy Fields |
|