The word kanji literally means "Chinese characters," showing that the kanji used in Japanese writing are of Chinese origin. Japanese people, who originally had no writing system, borrowed the Chinese script to write their own language around the 5th century via Korea. Originally, writing was limited to writing not only using the Chinese characters but also using the Chinese language. Gradually, the Chinese characters were applied to record the Japanese language. Since the Japanese spoken language is very different from Chinese, certain adjustments had to be made. One of the main differences between the two languages was, for example, that in Japanese verb endings changed depending on the tense and mood of the speaker. In Chinese, on the other hand, there were no such changes and every single syllable was represented in writing with a Chinese "symbol" that had its own meaning. Therefore, the Japanese began to use the kanji for 1. representing meaning and 2. representing sound. Because all kanji had a meaning, it was not always clear when they were used to represent meaning and when only sound. Out of this necessity grew out the Japanese kana syllabary (a sort of phonetic alphabet) which, although originally derived from kanji, came to representing only sound.

Today, to read a Japanese newspaper, you need to know the 1,945 common characters (joyo kanji). The list of these kanji was published by the Japanese government in 1981 and newspapers that use characters outside the joyo kanji list are required by law to also provide the pronunciation using furigana. Children have to learn the joyo kanji by the time they graduate from high school. In reality, however, the actual number of kanji is much larger - about 6,000, including obsolete forms. Beside the kanji, modern Japanese writing also employs two kinds of phonetic syllabaries: hiragana and katakana. Although originally these also derive from kanji, they have evolved into purely phonetic characters which have no semantic value associated with them. A kanji by the Buddhist monk Hakuin © 2000 Logoi.com. All Rights Reserved