The Writing System
On first impression, the way Japanese is written is unbelievably complicated. There appears to be a character with one or two strokes, then another with 15 or 20. Some are very "curvy", while others are simply straight lines with sharp angles.
I have tried to summarize the writing system in the following YouTube video. Hopefully it makes sense and helps you understand why people might be (wrongly) intimidated by learning the language.
© 2013 by Stephen Howes
This photo was taken in Takasaki city, Gunma prefecture (群馬県高崎市).
Just to the right of the sign is an awesome 62m "roller-slider", so these are obviously some of the rules for using it.
Notice the use of three different scripts blended together. You may need to come back to this picture once you have a better grasp on the difference.
In summary:
There are three scripts in writing Japanese - hiragana, katakana and kanji
Romaji refers to Japanese words written using the alphabet
There are 46 basic characters in hiragana and katakana
The characters are not like an alphabet, rather a syllable chart
There are 5 basic syllable sounds "a, i, u, e, o"
If you master these 5 sounds, you can master all the characters on the chart
The variety of sounds changes with a "ten-ten" or "maru", or "blended" sounds
Learning kanji requires a lot of patience - there is a ridiculously huge number of them.
Students in Japan must have learnt 2,136 (joyo kanji) by the end of junior high (Year 9 Aus)
The most common question I get asked is "what script should I learn if I am just starting out in Japanese?". My own opinion is hiragana. It is the base script for the language
Hiragana
ひらがな
- 46 commonly used characters (syllables)
- the core script for the language - all native Japanaese words are written in this script.
- the first script learnt by children in Japan.
Characteristics:
- curvy, round-edged strokes
Katakana
カタカナ
- the same 46 characters (syllables)
- functionally very different to hiragana
- used for words borrowed from other languages
- used for onomatopoeic expressions
- used in advertising and manga etc. for emphasis
Characteristics:
- straight, sharp-edged strokes
- many are similar (not the same) as hiragana
Kanji
漢字
- they scare people
- they are not syllables and in fact each character has a meaning (different to hiragana/katakana). When used with other kanji another meaning is created. For example, on their own 手 (て) means "hand", and 紙 (かみ) means "paper". When used together 手紙 (てがみ) means "a letter".
- there are estimated to be more than 50,000, however you can survive very comfortably on 1500-2000.
- Students in Japan must learn 2,136 as stated above, however these often do not include kanji that are used in names.
Characterisitcs:
- lots and lots of strokes