I know this is becoming off-t but just for the curious...
On Fri, 7 Nov 2003 13:43:06 -0600
Eugene Lee <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> On Sat, Nov 08, 2003 at 01:35:40AM +0900, - Edwin - wrote:
> :
> : On 2003.11.7, at 18:37 Asia/Tokyo, Marek Kilimajer wrote:
> :
> : ...[snip]...
> :
> : >Are Kanji and Kana chracter sets?
> :
> : "Kan" -> Chinese + "ji" -> character
> :
> : kana: (quoted from the American Heritage Dictionary)
> : "1. Japanese syllabic writing. The characters are
> simplified kanji
>
> Actually, kana are not "simplified kanji" because it is not
> the case that kana can replace kanji while preserving the
> exact same meaning. In fact, most kana by themselves have
> no meaning.
Well, I'm sure there's a very good reason why the dictionary
I quoted called it "simplified kanji". In fact, there's a
very good why many--if not all--the books that talks about
the subject call it the same way.
Japanese didn't have a native system of writing so they
borrowed from Chinese characters. Those Chinese characters
were used *phonetically* and the meanings were ignored. In
other words, one can say that, during those time /even/
kanjis did NOT have any meaning for the Japanese (person)
since the characters were just used phonetically.
Since each Japanese word had to employ several Chinese
characters, which requires a large number of strokes, they
decided to simplify this bothersome process by using a
cursive, simplified style of kanji.
Then, (just to make the story short) during the Heian period
(794-1185), the simplified characters underwent a further
simplification. Thus, "hiragana" (and a little later,
"katakana") was born.
Actually, just by observing how the "kanas" are written,
you'll notice that:
* The hiragana and katakana for "na"
came from the kanji "na" in "Nara"
(Nara Prefecture).
* The hiragana and katakana for "yu"
came from the kanji "yu" which means
reason, cause, etc.
* All hiragana and katakana has a
corresponding kanji from which
they're derived from.
Now, back to the future...
- E -
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