Japanese Scripts, Kanji Readings, and Writing Conventions

All flashcards

What is kanji?

Kanji are logographic characters adopted from Chinese writing. They are associated with meanings and are commonly used for content words and word stems.

What are kana?

Kana are Japanese phonographic scripts. Modern kana consist mainly of hiragana and katakana, whose characters represent sounds or morae.

What is a common role of hiragana?

Hiragana commonly writes grammatical elements, inflectional endings, and many native or naturalized Japanese words.

What is a common role of katakana?

Katakana commonly writes foreign names and loanwords, onomatopoeia, scientific terms, and words marked for emphasis.

Why is Japanese writing considered complex?

It combines scripts with different functions and uses a large inventory of kanji, many of which have multiple readings.

Quiz questions

1. In Japanese, what does on’yomi refer to?Answer: A reading that approximates a Chinese pronunciation associated with a kanji.
2. What is okurigana in Japanese writing?Answer: Hiragana following a kanji stem to mark inflection or guide its reading.
3. What is the function of furigana?Answer: Kana placed above or beside kanji to indicate their pronunciation.
4. How does traditional Japanese tategaki arrange text?Answer: Characters run downward in columns, with columns proceeding from right to left.
5. How do readers usually identify word boundaries in Japanese prose?Answer: They use grammar, vocabulary, and context because spaces are normally absent.