Japanese language: Hiragana, Katkana, Kanji characters

Japanese language: hiragana, katkana, kanji characters. Our article will tell you about Japanese writing and tell beginners how to learn Japanese characters and alphabets.

Konnichiwa, dear friends! When you start learning Japanese, you immediately come across two syllabaries and hieroglyphs. katakana and hiragana are how they are related to kanji , where they all came from and how they differ.

The Japanese language has three writing systems . Many people at the beginning of their study make a big mistake by calling alphabets hieroglyphs, although in fact they are completely different things.

Historically, Japan has used two syllabary systems: hiragana and katakana . kanji in Japanese .

Several thousand years ago, the Japanese had an oral language, but no written language at all. To fix this, they borrowed a writing system from a neighboring country - China.

Chinese characters are ideograms that indicate the meaning of a word. Phonetically, each of them denotes a syllable. The Japanese decided to use their sound without reference to the meaning. In other words, Japanese words began to be written in hieroglyphs that matched their phonetic sound. Later, Buddhist monks invented the alphabets themselves as a way to simplify reading and writing kanji.

Japanese alphabets (and writing in general) were divided along gender lines. The study of Chinese letters was accessible to a very limited part of the male population. Hiragana was used mainly by women, katakana mainly by men. They differ from each other in that the first alphabet has letters with smooth outlines, while the second, on the contrary, has more angular shapes.

Despite the fact that hiragana was considered a women's alphabet, not all women studied it, but only those close to the imperial court or from high society. Katakana is an alphabet that men used as cursive writing, and later used to write down the auxiliary parts of words.

Syllabic alphabet

We will now look at where and when these alphabets are used. The Japanese syllabary is called 4 letters: kana . It, in turn, is divided into two types. The structure of kana differs in that, if in Russian the alphabet is letters, then in Japanese it is syllables. Each individual syllable is called a mora .

The table below shows hiragana . It can be immediately identified by the soft writing of the syllables, which stand out with their smooth curves. It is used to write words of Japanese origin, designate various grammatical particles, prepositions and variable endings.

As we can see, the writing of the letters in the second alphabet is more angular. In modern Japanese, katakana is used in loanwords, or gairaigo . It is also used to record foreign names and geographical names of places, cities, rivers, etc.

Sometimes some Japanese words are written in the same alphabet, but this is done only for the sake of fashion or to focus attention on something. In European languages, this is done using italics, underlining, and bolding.

So, for example, if they want to highlight a word, in an advertisement or just in an article, then katakana is used. This is done because, as a rule, identifying hieroglyphs is very difficult or almost impossible.

The tables present the 46 main syllables of the Japanese alphabet. There are also additional moras that are formed using various techniques, which we discussed in detail in the article on the differences between hiragana and katakana.

Our school wants to help you learn to read and write Japanese as quickly as possible! We have two wonderful one-week courses for you in Hiragana and Katakana.

The old fashioned way

The traditional method of learning the syllabary alphabet is to do exercises according to the textbook. We pick up a book or notebook and patiently write out each squiggle, following the rules of writing and saying it to ourselves. In a row, like letters in first grade. After every five signs we do oral and written exercises. How to learn hiragana in a week this way? Plan your time and stay on schedule.

Frankly speaking, doing exercises, especially written ones, will take a lot of time. But if you are learning a language for your own pleasure, then you can devote more time to your studies and learn how to write characters perfectly.

The advantages of this method: visual and mechanical memory work simultaneously, memorization occurs quite quickly. And most importantly, the knowledge acquired in this way lasts literally for years. Even if you stop learning a language for a while, when you start again, you will remember everything very quickly.

Japanese Kanji characters

Nowadays, kanji is used to write the stems of words. Therefore, it is so important to know all three types of writing in order to use the language to its fullest.

Don't forget that kanji are simply written differently, and the sounds are the same as in the other two alphabets.

Japanese characters seem like a daunting task for beginners. Firstly, because of their number, because there are more than 2 thousand of them. Secondly, because of the difficulty of reading. Therefore, unlike hiragana and katakana, learning Japanese kanji will be more difficult.

Each character has one or more readings: it is yomi , or the Japanese interpretation of the Chinese pronunciation of the character, and kun'yomi, based on the pronunciation of native Japanese words. How a kanji will be read depends on the context in which it is found: on its combination with other kanji or its place in a sentence.

However, there are many things that will help in learning. For example, the order of strokes. You may already know that kanji are written in a certain sequence, which is very important to remember. Not only to make it easier to recognize handwritten signs, but also because it will help with learning them.

It is better to learn hieroglyphs sequentially. In Japan there is a whole system for this called kyoiku . It includes kanji that is taught to children in elementary school. There is a separate list for each year of study. For example, the kanji table below corresponds to the first class. These are the basic Japanese characters for beginners with translations that you need to know to further learn the language.

Cards

This method perfectly complements the previous one. Cut out 46 cards from cardboard, write a hiragana character on each (you can also write katakana on the back). Shuffle all the cards, pull out one at a time and call them. A kind of test, which also promotes memorization. You can study almost from the very beginning of training - just remove the cards of signs that you have not studied yet. Or you can improve your knowledge of symbols that are difficult to remember - remove the cards that you know best and practice with the most difficult ones.

How to learn Japanese characters?

It is the hieroglyphs that frighten beginners in Japanese. But it is definitely possible to learn them. It's not even as difficult as it seems! However, this will take some time. Don't rush and try to memorize hundreds of kanji in one day.

Learning Japanese kanji one by one is a bad idea for beginners. Unlike the other two writing systems, these symbols are best taught in context . That is, you need to focus not just on one hieroglyph, but on entire words where it is used.

Let's look at this using the example of some of the simplest Japanese hieroglyphs. Let's take two kanji from the table above:

1. 日 - day/sun. Onyomi: “nichi”, kunyomi: “hi”, “ka”.
2. 本 - base/book. Onyomi: "hon", kunyomi: "moto".

Instead of learning each sound individually, it is easier to learn the word where these kanji are used: 日本 (nihon) - Japan.

Trying to remember single readings may not be effective for several reasons:

1. You won't know when which option is used. For example, having learned on'yomi and kun'yomi 本, you still won't know how to read the word 大本 (o: moto) - the root.
2. You will quickly forget them.

Another good way to remember Japanese characters is through mnemonics . With the help of associations, you can learn not only the kanji themselves, but also the full words. For example, the same “Japan” in Western culture is known as the “Land of the Rising Sun”. This expression is a mnemonic for remembering 日本: 日 (sun) + 本 (base) = “the base of the sun” or “where the sun begins.”

These are the most effective options to learn Japanese Kanji characters. Kanji learning textbooks always give example words for each character. You can also often find pictures in them that help build an association between the hieroglyph and its meaning.

If you do not repeat hieroglyphs, they will quickly be forgotten. Therefore, set aside at least 30 minutes every day to repeat them.

Hiragana, katakana, kanji - the Japanese language in general - things are not easy, but interesting. Each element is a separate unusual world that can be explored in different ways.

So today we found out that Japanese letters were copied from Chinese characters and then developed into two separate alphabets. Hiragana and katakana are the basic writing systems, once you have learned them you can begin to learn kanji.

Now, if you come across questions like the ones listed below in scanwords, you will definitely know the answers to them:

• angular Japanese alphabet (8 letters);
• basic Japanese alphabet (8 letters);
• Japanese alphabet (4 letters) or Japanese alphabet section (4 letters);
• Japanese letter (4 letters);
• Japanese character (5 letters).

You know them, right? Write in the comments!

What other interesting things do you know about Japanese syllabaries and hieroglyphs? Also share your knowledge in the comments! See you again!

Tips for self-learning Japanese

Learning a language is a long process, and it is important to ensure that it does not become boring and tedious, and at the same time remains effective. The following recommendations will help with this:

1. You need to exercise every day! Languages ​​with hieroglyphic writing are forgotten very quickly, so you shouldn’t take breaks.
2. Activities can be varied. For example, in the morning we write hieroglyphs in a notebook, in the afternoon we watch a film in Japanese with subtitles or listen to Japanese music, in the evening we try to read news on Japanese websites. All means are good for learning a language.
3. A great many applications have been created for smartphone owners that allow them to master the language playfully. They include hieroglyphics, listening, pronunciation control, and dialogues. This method is good for those who do not have time to learn the language, since it only takes 5 minutes a day. The main thing is regularity.
4. To memorize hieroglyphs, there are applications that allow you to download decks of flash cards. For example, looking at cards every day in the Ankidroid application, we note the degree of memorability for each hieroglyph, and the program itself regulates the frequency with which they are played on the screen.
5. You need to learn words not separately, but as part of expressions or sentences. If you make several phrases with each word, it will be remembered easier.
6. It’s just great if you have the opportunity to communicate with a native speaker, if not in person, then at least via Skype. This will allow you to develop spontaneity and consolidate the acquired knowledge. The best option is to live in the country of the language you are learning.

Learning Japanese is difficult, but quite possible. For successful training, two main components are required - powerful motivation and iron discipline. There are many ways to learn a language, and the best results can be achieved by combining them all.

How long does it take to learn a language?

Everyone has their own pace of language learning. Offline courses require three years of study (half a year for each course). It is neither a fast nor a slow pace of learning. During this time, you can learn all the skills: speaking, listening, reading, writing. Studying for a period of three years does not mean that the knowledge is 100% obtained. It would be more correct to say that during this time the student will acquire basic skills and in the future will be able to independently continue to improve their language. Learning a language in a year or two is unlikely outside of Japan.

My journey in learning the Japanese language

Even before my first trip to Japan, I decided to study Japanese on my own. I’ll say right away that I had no intention of going to Japan at that time, but decided to learn the language in order to improve my personal literacy. I still remember English lessons with cramming tenses and irregular verbs. By the way, my English was not bad at all. I was a diligent student and spoke with virtually no accent.

So, when it came to Japanese, I didn’t yet have my own strategy for learning languages. I was inexperienced and therefore, taking the basic strategy as a basis , I armed myself with textbooks with rules and dictionaries, as well as a book of hirogana, katakana and kanji symbols.

After studying for two weeks, I gave up everything in my heart and hid my textbooks away. I didn’t even want to remember Japanese. It seems to me that my brain even became inflamed from the overload, since I clearly felt bouts of nausea from studying.

About five years later I had the opportunity to visit Japan for a short time. I again decided to learn the most basic and common words and questions like “where is the toilet?” for basic survival and was once again amazed at how unmemorable Japanese words seem.

Oyasuminasai (good night), Omedetto (congratulations) Yukkuri (slowly). Again, giving up on everything and armed with the only phrase “Konichua” (hello, hello), “Puroblemu” (translation seems not needed) and NoPuroblemu, I set off on my first trip.

I stayed in Japan for a week and really liked the country. Soon the prospect of traveling there again and for a longer time arose, and so I took up my studies in a different way. I changed my approach.

Programs, games and mobile applications

You can do without drawing signs and take advantage of the benefits of civilization, namely programs for learning hiragana. How to learn hiragana in a week using the program? Download one of them and install it on your computer. It can be:

• “Canonization”, which combines several modes;
• a script for Word that replaces Russian syllables with hiragana;
• a game of kana, in which you need to find the meaning of signs;
• Easy Kana program, which operates on the principle of cards and allows you to both learn new and repeat signs.

Online trainers can be found on websites for Japanese learners.

Don't forget about the computing power in your own pocket. There are a great many mobile applications that help you learn hiragana. These are all kinds of educational tables, cards, games. One “but” - all programs are in English, but it’s not difficult to understand the most popular ones. These are JA Sensei, Kana, Obenkyo, Kana Mind and many others, most of them are free.

The advantage of studying using programs is speed. You won’t ask how to learn hiragana in a week, the signs themselves will be remembered after a couple of days of use, learning is easy and enjoyable. But they are also forgotten in a moment. In addition, problems with reading books and writing may occur. It’s better to look at the textbook to do the exercises at least orally. A huge advantage of mobile applications is that you can study anywhere, for example, on the subway or at a boring lecture.

Japanese alphabet from あ to ん

The common name for the Japanese alphabet is kana. There are two types of it: hiragana (平仮名) and katakana (片仮名). Both of these alphabets are syllabic. This means that they do not consist of vowels and consonants, but of signs meaning syllables (in Japanese they are called moras).

Each mora is a combination of a consonant and one of five vowels: “a”, “i”, “u”, “e”, “o”. For example, ま (ma), く (ku), ふ (fu), キ (ki), テ (te). The exception is the “n” sound, which is more similar to the English nasal [ŋ]. It is sometimes pronounced as "m", depending on the syllables that come before it. In the hiragana system it is denoted by ん, and in katakana by ン.

To understand what the Japanese alphabet is and why there are 2 of them, we need to turn to history. First of all, katakana and hiragana are distinguished by their purpose.

Both alphabets are a simplified form of Japanese writing. They came from kanji, that is, hieroglyphs, which, in turn, were borrowed from China and adapted to Japanese pronunciation. By the way, this is why kana signs, like hieroglyphs, must be written in a strict sequence of strokes.

Hiragana was originally considered a script used exclusively by women. Their education differed from that of men: they were not able to study hieroglyphs. But despite this, hiragana gave us the greatest works of Japanese literature. It was with its development that women began to write novels for the same women who could not read books written in hieroglyphs. Thus was born the great Tale of Genji, known as Genji Monogatari.

Katakana was invented by Buddhist monks and was used as a cursive script, and then emerged as an independent type of writing. Before the kana reform of 1946, it served to record auxiliary parts of words: endings, particles, prepositions.

It is impossible not to note the appearance of hiragana and katakana. Their difference is that the first alphabet is characterized by italic and rounded letters, and the second alphabet is characterized by pointed ones.