![]() But, due to the history and tradition of Japanese reading and writing, this system works. There have been attempts to unify the Japanese writing system into one script. And it can’t be purely hiragana because there are no spaces to break up the words. Well, it can’t be only kanji, because it doesn’t represent phonetic Japanese well. So, once you know the history of the Japanese writing system, you may wonder, why isn’t everything written in one script? Why is it a mixture of three? But, there’s a deep and beautiful history behind the three Japanese writing systems that work together in modern Japanese. Why Are There Three Alphabets in Japanese?įor English native speakers, the concept of three separate writing systems is very foreign. You can learn more about the differences between hiragana, katana, and kanji in this in-depth comparison. Often, Japanese uses hiragana to clarify the pronunciation and meaning of Kanji. Hiragana is for Japanese words, and kataka is for words of foreign origin. Japanese needed a writing system that truly represented the pronunciation of Japanese words. They used onyomi to pronounce words based on the Chinese pronunciation, and kunyomi for the Japanese original words. At first, they had two pronunciations for Kanji: onyomi and kunyomi. So, there had to be an adaptation of writing that reflected the pronunciation. Since they represent particular meanings of words, adapting them seems straightforward.īut, Japanese is a lot different from Chinese. In China, Kanji letters were called hànzì. So close, that Japan adopted the Chinese writing system to their own language. Thanks to geography and their shared history, China and Japan were very close. But, for now, the most important difference is that onyomi is from Chinese words, and kunyomi is from the original Japanese. We’ll include a more in-depth history of what onyomi and kunyomi is. This is probably a good starting point for anyone who wants to learn Japanese. The chart below gives you the 100 most common kanji characters that are taught in the first grade. (Ok, there are 2,136, if you want to get technical about it.) But, for now, let’s get into all 2,000+ characters here. There are over 2,000 kanji characters in everyday speech. So, there’s a lot more of them than hiragana or katakana. Kanji characters are borrowed from Chinese. So, when you encounter these, you’ll most likely use katakana. There are a lot of loanwords from Chinese and English in Japanese. You use hiragana for Japanese words only. So, what’s the difference between katakana and hiragana? And you’re right, they’re really alike because they both represent phonetic Japanese. You may notice how similar katakana is to hiragana. Not the Japanese characters we were thinking of Hiragana Though katakana and hiragana use similar sounds, they both have different characters. Once you know the meaning of each character, you’ll be able to read katakana and hiragana easily. Katakana and hiragana characters are made with phonetic sounds, which is quite similar to English. If you can handle English, you should have no problem with the Japanese alphabet. Though this may seem overwhelming, the English language technically contains 104 various letter appearances between cursive, print, lowercase, and capital letters. These alphabets contain around 50 characters each. Here, one character is a syllable, based on the pronunciation. Katakana and hiragana are the two phonetic alphabets of Japanese. Essentially, these kanji symbols act in place of the meanings they represent. With kanji characters, you can better discern when each new word begins. Certain Japanese words like verbs, adjectives, and nouns are written with kanji. Kanji are the Chinese characters that have been adopted into modern Japanese writing. Some Japanese words are written with one script, others are a mixture of all. These letters have a slightly different look. So, do your Japanese knowledge a favor, and master the three Japanese alphabets as the first step of your learning journey.Īs we mentioned before, the Japanese alphabet is comprised of three different scripts: And when they go to Japan, they’ll be completely lost. Those who learn with only Romaji won’t have correct Japanese pronunciation. But, when you’re learning Japanese, easy isn’t always good. A lot of lazy Japanese students only learn Romaji, because it’s easy. ![]() It’s Japanese words written with the Latin letters of the English alphabet. It’s kind of like learning the words to your new favorite song!.Spaced out over time, so you absorb your new language organically.Presented in a natural, everyday context.It teaches you useful words and phrases.Psst! Did you know we have a language learning app?
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