, , 1 / - 0 - / 1 " Kanji Mnemonics An Instruction Manual for Learning Japanese Characters Robert P. Bodnaryk Ph.D. , 1 / - 0 - / 1 " Kanji Mnemonics An Instruction Manual for Learning Japanese Characters Robert P. Bodnaryk Ph.D. © Copyright 2000 Robert P. Bodnaryk ALL RIGHTS RESERVED No part ofthis bookmaybe copied, reproduced or transmitted in anymannerwhatsoever without written permission from the publisher. ISBN 0-9688937-0-8. Forward comments andcorrections to the publisher: Kanji Mnemonics, 149 Linacre Road, Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T3R5, CANADA ore-mail [email protected] Copies ofKanji Mnemonics can be orderedfrom our Web site www.mts.netl-bodnaryk/index.htm Acknowledgements I am indebted to Or. Isao Morishima of Tottori University for careful editing. Allthe errors remaining in the text are my own. Special thanks to Or. Osamu Imura formanyhelpful suggestions and to Or. Toshiaki Hara,Yuko Tahira and students ofTottori Universityfor trying theirbest to teach me howto speakJapanese. Table of Contents I. Introduction i-1 Kanji Camefrom China i-2 Kanji are PictureWords i-2 SoWhyDon't IGetthe Picture? i-2 Howthe Pictures Changed I:::J Drift i-3 I:::J Copying Error i-4 I:::J AssignmentofNewMeaningsto Old Characters i-4 I:::J Standardization i-4 I:::J Simplification i-5 It'sa PictureofWhat!? i-5 TheStructureofKanji I:::J Radicals and Elements i-6 I:::J Kanji as Radicals i-6 I:::J On and kun Readings i-6 Mnemonics-the Key to Learning Kanji I:::J Pictographs and IdeographsTell theStory(Sometimes) i-7 I:::J MnemonicStringsforComplexKanji i-7 I:::J NaturalGroupingsofKanji i-7 I:::J Kanji inCompoundWords i-B I:::JStrokeOrder i-B I:::J Kanji Cards i-B OtherToolsforLearning Kanji I:::J Computers i-9 I:::J Dictionaries i-9 I:::J OtherKanji Texts i-9 General Rules forWriting Kanji I:::J FirstSteps i-10 I:::J Stroke Direction i-10 I:::J StrokeOrder i-11 A FinalWord... I:::J HowManyKanji DoYou ReallyNeed to Know? i-13 I:::J HowFastCanYou LearnThem? i-13 11. PicturesandSymbols 1 Ill. Sounds Groups I:::J Level 1 20 I:::J Level2 39 I:::J Level3 71 IV. MixedSound and StructureGroups I:::J Level 1 111 I:::J Level2 142 I:::J Level 3 230 V.StructureGroups I:::J Level 1 277 I:::J Level2 303 I:::J Level3 346 VI. Appendix I:::J Abbreviations andConventions 393 I:::J Reference Material 393 I:::J Kanji Dictionaries 394 I:::J Index 1. ON Readings 395 I:::J Index2. Kun Readings 410 I. INTRODUCTION Kanji Mnemonics is an instruction manual for learning Japanese characters. It incorporates powerful mnemonic (memory-assisting) devices to help students learn all 1,945 kanji in everyday use in Japan. The manual assumes only a basic knowledge of Japanese grammar and the kana and is suitable for self-study or use in a classroom setting. Kanji Mnemonics employs many interactive strategies to facilitate learning kanji. The manual is cumulative in its approach: simple kanji, radicals and elements are learned first and form the basis for the more complex characters that come later. Kanji are organized into natural groups based on mnemonically effective affinities. Structural elements that form each complex kanji are listed and cross-indexed. Finally, kanji are assigned 'mnemonic strings' to make their meanings highly memorable for beginners and advanced students alike. Although Kanji Mnemonics takes a modern, pragmatic approach to learning kanji, it also encourages a sympathetic appreciation ofthe etymology ofthese enduring characters and their great antiquity. A brief account ofthe kanji as pictographs or ideographs and their historic evolution are therefore given in Section I. Section II presents 98 basic kanji, many ofwhich are derived from simple pictures and symbols. In Section Ill, kanji are presented in groups that have a common structure and the same ON reading (Sound Groups). Section IV contains groups of kanji that have common structures but whose ON readings are not all the same (Mixed Sound and Structure Groups). Section V contains groups ofkanji that have common structures but different ON readings (Structure Groups). Within each ofthe Sound, Mixed and Structure groups, kanji are presented in graded levels ofdifficulty, which is usually (but not always) a function ofthe number ofstrokes required to write them. Although the assignment ofkanji to levels ofdifficulty tends to be somewhat arbitrary, there seems little doubt that a Level 1 kanji such as ~ is a lot easierto learn than a Level 3 kanji such as ~f1. As the simple kanji are mastered, it becomes easier and easier to cope with the difficult ones. Kanji Came from China Historically the Japanese people had no written language oftheir own. Starting in about the fourth century AD and peaking in the sixth, they began borrowing the Chinese system ofwriting. Since Chinese and Japanese are entirely different spoken languages, the use of Chinese characters (in Japan called kanji, literally characters from Han China) to write Japanese was an unmitigated disaster. At first the sound ofthe borrowed characters was used to spell out Japanese words, and the Chinese meaning was ignored. This was an inefficient and awkward way ofdoing things. For example, the character for the sound KI ~ is highly complex and requires 12 strokes to write (it takes just four strokes with the Roman alphabet). Later, Chinese characters were taken for their meaning only and given a Japanese pronunciation. As a result, nearly two-thirds of kanji today have both a Chinese and Japanese pronunciation (called a 'reading'). The Japanese also supplemented the Chinese system ofwriting with two alphabets (called hiragana and katakana) oftheir own, each having some 45 different letters. The end result was, in the words of one exasperated writer, an insanely complicated system ofwriting. Kanji are Picture Words Some three thousand years ago when people in China (priests, most likely) wanted to record something, they drew pictures. What is written down can be preserved and transmitted to others and pictures are undeniably the best way of conveying some kinds of information. In our age of information overload, we use pictures with increasing frequency to convey messages effortlessly in the blink of an eye. The modern equivalent of kanji are everywhere these days- on the doors of every public washroom, on highway signs, in airports, on computer screens, on the products we buy- informing us, directing us or warning us in a way that mere words cannot match. So Why Don't I Get the Picture? If picture words convey information in such a direct and meaningful way, why are the characters that form the backbone ofthe Chinese and Japanese systems ofwriting utterly incomprehensible to us when we first encounterthem? Why are kanji so difficult? And why does it seem to take forever to learn kanji? A simple answer is that the situation was not always like this. Once, common pictographs (pictures ofthings) and ideographs (symbolic representations of intangibles, like love orwar) were relatively straightforward. But, overthousands ofyears they have evolved, diverging from pictures that almost anyone could read, to become increasingly abstract symbols. Unfortunately, :'"J the highly-evolved modern forms now convey little oftheir meaning except to those who first spend many years studing them. For example, it is doubtful that anyone would guess the meaning ofeven the simplest ofkanji, such as B .Yet there is not a man, ~ woman or child who does not know what stands for. This universal picture ofthe sun is a perfect kanji. Its modern equivalent B is really a nonsense symbol. It must be learned. The task of learning this kanji might seem trivial at first sight. After all, it does not take much mental horse powerto remember that a rectangle with a horizontal dividing line stands for "sun". Multiply by two thousand (approximately the number of kanji you need to know to be newspaper-literate in Japan) and the magnitude of difficulty becomes more apparent. How did so many kanji go from being wonderfully direct pictures to their largely unintelligible modern forms? More importantly, how is the student of Japanese to cope with learning a picture writing language that has all but abandoned its pictures? Knowledge ofthe historical evolution ofcharacters can help to learn them. How the Pictures Changed Although Chinese characters have been around for three millennia, only a few ofthem can be traced back unchanged to their ancient origins. Most ofthem have evolved over time to their modern forms, a process that continues, at least in the Peoples Republic of China, to the present day. Standardized forms began to appear by the third century BC and by 200 AD the squared 'KAISHO' form widely used today in East Asia, including Japan, had become established. The history of a kanji mayor may not help you to learn it. A long or convoluted or obscure etymology, while fascinating in its own right, may serve no useful mnemonic purpose. In Kanji Mnemonics, we cite the historical development of a kanji only when it serves as a direct memory aid. When we are etymologically silent, the reader can assume that no such purpose would be served. Many kinds of evolutionary change have been identified by scholars. Some ofthe more common processes leading to change are as follows: Drift A living language never stays the same. Change to its written form may occur as the result of intervention ofgovernments bent on reform but in fact a lot ofchange is simply the result ofdrift. The historical development of many Chinese characters has been traced back in time by studying primitive characters first written on bone and tortoise shell, by studying characters on inscriptions, in court documents, poetry, letters and in various types ofmanuscripts and records that may span hundreds and sometimes thousands ofyears. For some characters, the etymological trail quickly grows cold and their origins remain lost forever in the mists oftime. Scholars may also disagree about the etymology of individual characters and it is not uncommon for there to be competing theories. Copying Error Chinese characters were developed and written long before the invention of printing presses and Xerox machines. Today we take it for granted that multiple copies of a document will all be the same. In ancient times when another copy of a document was needed, it was copied by hand. Bad lighting, the failing eyesight of some copyists, fatigue and human error all took their toll on the fidelity of reproduction of handwritten manuscripts. An abrupt change in the historical development of a character is often the product of a copying error and its perpetuation by succeeding generations. Copying errors have degraded the quality of characters, obscuring their meaning and making them more difficult to learn. Kanji that are the product of a copying error are noted in Kanji Mnemonics when it makes good didactic sense to do so. Assignment of New Meanings to Old Characters From time to time, the prevailing linguistic authority has sanctioned a new meaning for an existing character. The new meaning is said to be 'borrowed', but in plain English the character was really a picture ofsomething else. A character with a borrowed meaning is the ultimate nonsense symbol and a total capitulation ofthe picture writing concept. These "pictures" are not worth 1,000 words- they are not even worth one. The student must bear up and just learn these rogues with the aid and advice of Kanji Mnemonics. Standardization Early picture writing was not pretty to look at. Characters were ofall different sizes and a general anarchy in writing them prevailed. In truth, the writing looked like the dog's dinner. Such an unruly state of affairs is anathema to bureaucracy. A standardized system ofwriting on squared paperwas introduced. All characters were to be written the same size, one to a square. This Procrustean bed of squares forced many changes to be made in the way the characters were written. Round shapes were squared to fit better (hence, the square sun referred to earlier). Since all characters whether composed oftwo or twenty strokes- had to be written the same size, there was a reduction in the number ofstrokes for the more complex characters. Entire substructures vital to the integrity ofthe character as a picture were dropped or replaced by abbreviated versions. Lines that stuck out every which way in the old pictographs were made to run straight up and down, or straight across, or were otherwise tidied up. The characters took on a brisk new appearance but in the process gave up much oftheir essential quality as pictures. Ah! the bureaucratic mind! These squared characters, in place by 200 AD, conveyed their information more as symbols and less as pictures. .It