Transcript 漢字 なかま1 - University of Alabama

Introduction to Kanji
漢字
About 50,000 kanji characters exist, though only about
5,000 to 10,000 are commonly used in Japan. After
World War II, the Japanese government designated
1,945 basic characters as Jouyou Kanji (commonly
used kanji), which are used in textbooks, newspapers,
and official documents.
School children learn about 996
basic characters in elementary
school. Hopefully by high school,
they can read the newspaper!
The Jouyou Kanji (web site)
Jouyou Kanji PDF file
It is very important that you follow the stroke order for
kanji you write. The kanji in the example above is made
up of 3 strokes, and the boxes show you which stroke to
write first, second, and third.
Stroke Order!
Stroke order is very important. With very few exceptions,
each kanji can only be written one way. Sometimes it’s
hard to tell what the stroke order should be, as in the
character for “up” or “above.” It has 3 strokes, but which
one comes first?
上
Stroke Order!
Stroke order is very important. With very few exceptions,
each kanji can only be written one way. Sometimes it’s
hard to tell what the stroke order should be, as in the
character for “up” or “above.” It has 3 strokes, but which
one comes first?
New version
上
Old version
On-reading (onyomi) is the Chinese reading of a kanji character. It is
based on the sound of the kanji character as pronounced by the
Chinese at the time the character was introduced, and also from the
area it was imported. That is why the onyomi might be quite different
from Standard Mandarin today. The Kun-reading (kunyomi) is the
native Japanese reading associated with the meaning of a kanji.
山
• 山田 （やまだ） Yamada
• 富士山 （ふじさん） Mt. Fuji
Mr. Yamada
Mt. Fuji
学
When writing kanji in cursive pen or
brush, you can see why stroke order is so
important.
Links
• http://www.uiowa.edu/~japanese/NAKAMA
/pages/Nakama1Kanji.html
• http://faculty.virginia.edu/nihongo/kanji/