Japanese Writing Systems

1. Japanese Writing Systems

2. How many different scripts are there? • Seventeen:　はじめてメイク入門 • JR線・名鉄線のりば • むらの茶屋 • すしだらけ • マクドナルドハンバーガー • よつばと

3. Japanese Writing Systems • Japanese is written with a combination of three scripts:  1. Chinese characters called Kanji 2. Two syllabic scripts (like alphabet) made of modified Chinese characters called Hiragana and Katakana

4. History of Japanese Writing • Although Japanese is a completely different language from Chinese, Japanese writing systems originally came from China. These characters are called kanji and began as pictures. Over time the pictures changed, and most kanji no longer look like the original objects. More about Kanji (Powerpoint)

5. What are Hiragana & Katakana? • Japanese has two sets of syllabic/phonetic scripts, called hiraganaand katakana • They are both developed from kanji • Both Hiragana & Katakana have 46 characters, which stands for syllables. • Hiragana are used together with kanji to write ordinary Japanesewords. Katakana are used to write words introduced from other languages, names of foreign people and places, sounds, and animal noises.

6. Origin of Hiragana & Katakana

7. What is Romaji? • Japanese can also be written using the English alphabet, called romaji. It is not normally used by Japanese people, but often used by English-speaking people since it is easier to understand.