塩 - A Pinch of SALT

Readings & Meanings:

エン

しお

salt

Common Usage:



Examples:

塩一つまみを鍋に入れた。

お葬式から帰ってきて塩で身を清めた。

お相撲さんが土俵に塩を投げた.

食塩を一つまみ鍋に入れた。

Translations:

I added one pinch of salt to the pot.

I purify myself with salt after the funeral.

The sumo wrestler threw salt into the ring.

I added one pinch of table salt to the pot.

Radical:

土 is the left radical.

皿 is on the bottom.

口 in the middle.

塩 used to be written as this: 鹽.

Aren't we lucky it got simplified?

Bonus:

In the Buddhist funeral ceremony, you are in the same room as a dead body. It is traditional to purify yourself afterwards. Before you go into the house, you ask someone inside to throw salt on you.

Salt has this purification aspect in many cultures, and Japan is no exception.

If you watch sumo, you know that sumo wrestlers throw salt into the ring before they wrestle.

My Mnemonic:

When I was living in Japan, I sometimes mixed up 塩 and 砂糖. Not the kanjis, but how you say them. Eventually, I tried to memorize them by remembering that they sound like the opposite of the English words.

さとう = sugar

しお = salt

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

遠 - Wear Loose Clothes When Going FAR

Readings & Meanings:

エン

オン

とお（い）

far

Common Usage:

遠い

Examples:

遠い親戚を訪ねる。

遠くに住んでいる親戚を訪ねる

遠足で山の向こうまで行った。

のび太くんは永遠の小学生だ。

Translations:

I'm visiting my distant relatives.

I'm visiting my relatives who live far away.

We went on a hike to the other side of the mountain.

Nobita is eternally a grammar-school student.

Radical:

Same as 園, 遠 has the 袁 phonetic. That's great, because otherwise I would never remember that 遠 also has a reading of えん, as in 公園.

Shinnyou on the left and bottom. By going on the road, you can get far away.

Important:

Be careful. The long "o" sound in 遠い is "to" + "o", not "to" + "u". When typing it in, you'll never be able to type 遠い by typing とうい.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

園 - A GARDEN in a Far-Away Country (Where They Wear Loose Clothing All Day)

Readings & Meanings:

エン

その

garden

Common Usage:

動物園

園

Examples:

彼女と動物園でデートした。

アダムとイブはエデンの園から追放された。

Translations:

I went on a date with her at the zoo.

Adam and Eve were exiled from the garden of Eden.

Radical:

Kuni-gamae is the radical here, because there's a box around something.

That something is 袁. It means "loose-fitting clothes." The bottom part comes from 衣. I'd like to say that the top part comes from 土, earth, as in your loose robes get dirty when they touch the ground, but no such luck. 土 here was originally an elliptical pictograph that changed into 土.

Please note that 園 and 遠 have the same part to them, although neither of them seem directly related to loose-fitting robes or kimonos. Instead, I like to remember them together, as in far-away gardens.

Of course, when we get to 猿, I guess I'll have to find a new mnemonic.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

選 - Line Them Up and CHOOSE

Readings & Meanings:

えら（ぶ）

セン

to choose

Common Usage:

選ぶ

選挙

選手

Examples:

熟したアボカドを選んで買った。

選挙に立候補する。

彼はマラソンの選手に選ばれた。

Translations:

I chose and bought a ripe avocado.

I'm running for office in the election.

He was chosen to be an athlete in the marathon.

Radical:

選 has the Shinnyou or Road Radical, the left and bottom framing radical that stems from 辵 (movement).

巽, though its meaning is "southeast" through borrrowing, is a pictograph of two people lined up (the backwards S's on the top) with a pair of hands (a form of 廾).

So the combination is, line people up to choose which one to go with.

Bonus:

大統領選 means "presidential election," but cuts off the kyo of 選挙.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

笑 - LOL!

Readings & Meanings:

え（む）

わら（う）

ショウ

laugh, smile

Common Usage:

笑う

笑顔

Examples:

彼は私の事を笑われた。

笑顔で挨拶した。

笑う門には福来る. （ことわざ）

Translations:

He laughed at me.

He greeted me with a smiling face.

Good fortune comes to a smiling house. (expression)

Radical:

笑 has a bamboo crown, otherwise known as a Take-Kanmuri.

夭 is a pictograph of a "slender, limber youth" (see Kanji Network ref. below).

Weirdly, this character came to take on the meaning of a different character, and that's how it acquired the meaning of "to laugh, to smile." Its history is intertwined with 咲, which is somehow related to the expression "鳥鳴花咲" from the Chinese.

Bonus:

I've seen this in blog posts, emails, and IM chats so much that I don't even see the kanji anymore, I just see two eyes above and a smiling mouth.

When a Japanese person wants a way to show that they are laughing or not serious, they don't use ":)" or "lol." They tend to use "(笑)" at the end of their sentences.

Totally Unnecessary:

おかしい is always written in hiragana, but the kanji is 可笑しい.

一笑百花香 is a very rare expression, found by one source in a rural museum of calligraphy (in Nagano). It has very simple kanji. Can you guess what it means? Answer in the comments.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

越 - MOVE, Run Beyond This Place

Readings & Meanings:

エツ

こ（える）

こ（す）

to go over, exceed; to cross, to move to

Common Usage:

引っ越し

越す

超越

Examples:

引っ越しの準備で忙しい。

毎度お越しいただきまして、ありがとうございます。

彼は何をするにも、超越している。

Translations:

I'm preparing for the move, so I'm busy.

Thank you for your patronage here so many times. (formal saying that shop attendants say when you leave)

He is, above and beyond, the best in whatever he does.

Radical:

走 on the left.

戉 on the right. A variant of 戈, spear, halberd, battle-ax.

Run and clear away obstacles with your ax.

Bonus:

Vietnam's kanji: 越南. Although it's very uncommon, these days, to write Vietnam as anything but ベトナム, it used to have the kanji for "beyond the south."

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

枝 - Wooden BRANCH in Hand

Readings & Meanings:

えだ

Common Usage:

枝豆

枝

Examples:

枝豆はビールのおつまみの定番だ。

木の枝にマシュマロを刺して焼く。

Translations:

Edamame is a standard snack to go with beer.

Skewer the marshmallow on the branch and roast it.

Radical:

木, obviously, means wood. But 支 is a pictograph of a hand holding a bamboo branch. 支 itself means branch. Huh?

This kanji has an interesting etymology. Apparently, 支 began to take on many different meanings, like "support," "hold," etc., and was used in a lot of different kanji.

Therefore, 枝 was devised to hold 支's original meaning: branch. 枝 is a replacement character.

Bonus:

That's right, 枝豆 is edamame. When you buy edamame, think of these kanji.

枝豆 are soybeans, but are harvested when they are still green and soft.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

液 - A LIQUID Is a Collection of Drops

Readings & Meanings:

エキ

liquid

Common Usage:

血液型占い

液体

体液

Examples:

血液型占いで彼との相性を調べた。

その謎の液体はとてもいい匂いがした。

警察の検査官は被害者の体から犯人の体液を検出した。

Translations:

I checked my compatibility with him in the blood-type-horoscope.

The mysterious liquid emitted a very nice smell.

The police investigator found the perpetrator's bodily fluids* on the victim's body.

*usually 体液 means sperm.

Radical:

San-zui (the three-droplet form of 水) on the left.

The phonetic on the right (液) gives a sense of "pile up."

If you collect enough drops, they will pool into a liquid.

Bonus: Blood-Type Horoscope

血液型占い.

Do you know your blood type? If you're an American, you probably don't, or it's not in recent memory. But if you're Japanese, you definitely now your blood type, and you know what it means.

In Japan, the blood type is regarded as more important to personality than the stars under which you were born. Western-style horoscopes, like Pisces, Sagittarius, etc., are not as popular as blood-type horoscopes. Especially for your compatibility tests.

The girl in the example sentence is typical of this mentality. If she's an A-type, she probably wants another A type. Although when I was in Japan, I think O-type was made very popular because of an O-type character in a popular ドラマ. See below for a short chart of types, taken from Wikipedia.

Japanese Blood Type Personality Chart

Type A
Best Traits: Earnest, creative, sensible, calm.
Worst Traits: Fastidious, overearnest.
Type B
Best Traits: Wild, a doer, cheerful.
Worst Traits: Selfish, irresponsible, arrogant.
Type AB
Best Traits: Cool, controlled, rational.
Worst Traits: Critical, indecisive, unforgiving.
Type O
Best Traits: Agreeable, sociable, an optimist.
Worst Traits: Vain, careless, ruthless, cruel.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_blood_type_theory_of_personality
http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

役 - SERVE Your Country, Go to WAR

Readings & Meanings:

エキ

ヤク

war, office, duty, role, service

Common Usage:

主役

市役所

懲役

役に立つ

Examples:

彼女はそのドラマの主役が好きだ。

市役所に行く。

その男は強盗罪を犯して、懲役二十年の判決をくだされた。

SokaSokaのウェブサイトは日本語の勉強にとても役に立つ。

Translations:

She likes the leading man of that drama.

I'm going to city hall.

He committed a burglary and was sentenced to 20 years of hard labor.

The website of SokaSoka is very helpful for studying Japanese.

Radical:

Gyou-nin-ben, 彳, on the left. Think of 行く.

殳 on the right. While this seems to be a pictograph of a pike, Kanji Networks says it is "almost exclusively used as an action indicator." See below, from this page.

　Five elements having something to do with a hand account for nearly all action indicators. These are 手, 又, 寸, 殳 (originally, a hand placing an object upright) and 攴 (variant form: 攵), originally a hand wielding a stick.

　The only other action indicator used with any frequency is 彳. Drawn from the left side of 行 go/crossroads, 彳 normally indicates "movement," but functions as an action indicator in characters such as 律, 得, 徳, 徹 and 循.

　Among other elements employed as action indicators are 廾 pair of hands (in 弊), 夂 leg (in 腹), and 辵 movement (in 選).

So two action indicators in one kanji! The time for action is clearly now.

役 means go to your post, immediately! Do not pass go, do not collect $200. We're at war, soldier. Report!

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

鋭 - SHARP Metal Tears Your Skin

Readings & Meanings:

エイ

するど（い）

sharp

Common Usage:

鋭い

鋭利

Examples:

怪しい男に鋭いナイフで刺された。

彼は鋭い観察眼を持っている。

鋭利な刃物で手を切ってしまった。

Translations:

I was stabbed with a knife by a suspicious-looking guy.

He has keen eyes.

I cut my hand with the sharp cutlery.

Radical:

Kane-hen on the left: 金

金 means metal or money. The idea is that the marks on either side of the 土 (earth) mark the spot where gold can be dug up.

兌 on the right, as a phonetic. It typically means "exchange," but if you look at its parts, it's got "divide left and right" on top (八). Think "tear, strip away."

So, with 鋭, picture metal sharp enough to tear your enemies to shreds.

Bonus:

You can use "鋭い" without any other words. If someone points out something very insightful, you can just say "するどい", and you will have given a really good compliment. Just like in English with "sharp!"

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

...And we're back!

Facebook: Kanji Box (Japanese Study Aid)

So lately I've been all about Facebook. Games, social network integration, applications, and more. It's awesome.

Of course, I did a search for "Japanese" in their applications section. Most of what came up was not useful to me. Low level words-a-day and such.

One app stood out. Kanji Box, by Dave du Verle.

This little app doesn't encourage passive learning by slapping a random kanji on your profile page. Oh no. You actually have to do the drills and the quizzes to get anything out of it.

The drills, I haven't used much. But I will soon, once I've finished proving to Kanji Box all I really know of the kanji and vocab it's quizzing me on.

The quizzes are kind of fun. Multiple choice. Choose from the four kanji or 単語 the one that matches the English (if it's a kanji quiz, you're also given the multiple readings of the kanji). The quizzes go up in difficulty in 9 "waves." Within each wave, you must keep a score of 60% or higher, or the quiz will stop. This is good; it can be exasperating when you just don't know any of the options and have no clues.

After you take a bunch of quizzes, there are a couple of ways to figure out which ones you don't know. First off, you can just do the Drills. They're supposed to skew towards the kanji/vocab you did poorly on. Or you can Export the ones you didn't get right. I haven't used either of these features.

What I did my last session was go down to the JLPT4 level, just to prove to myself I really had all of that. And to prove it to Kanji Box.

The mysterious thing, though, was that the JLPT4 quiz had a few waves of completely unfamiliar vocabulary. Was this some bizarre trick on Dave's part? Or were they really JLPT4 level?

So curious was I that I copied all of the ones I didn't know. Some of them I got right (but just on hunches based on the radicals I knew), but a lot of them I just did not know. Are these JLPT4?

論議 [ろんぎ] - discussion, argument

開発 [かいはつ] - development, exploitation

輸出 [ゆしゅつ] - export

削減 [さくげん] - cut, reduction, curtailment

記録 [きろく] - record, minutes, document, a record (e.g., in sports), results, score, to record, to document, to set a record (e.g., in sports), to show a result, to reach a value

攻撃 [こうげき] - attack, strike, offensive, criticism, censure

監督 [かんとく] - supervision, control, superintendence, director, superintendent, supervisor, coach, foreman, manager, overseer, controller, boss

原則 [げんそく] - principle, general rule

方向 [ほうこう] - course

対応 [たいおう] - interaction, correspondence, coping with, dealing with, support

調査 [ちょうさ] - enquiry

降る [くだる] - to get down, to descend

降りる [おりる] - to alight (e.g., from bus)

連合 [れんごう] - union, alliance, combination

当時 [とうじ] - at that time, in those days

見通し [みとおし] - perspective, unobstructed view, outlook, forecast, prospect, insight, foresight

全体 [ぜんたい] - whole, entirety, whatever (is the matter)

革命 [かくめい] - revolution

国境 [こっきょう] - national or state border

制裁 [せいさい] - restraint, sanctions, punishment

要求 [ようきゅう] - demand

希望 [きぼう] - hope, wish, aspiration

公演 [こうえん] - public performance

発展 [はってん] - development, growth

結論 [けつろん] - conclusion

財源 [ざいげん] - source of funds, resources, finances

協調 [きょうちょう] - cooperation, conciliation, harmony, firm (market) tone

逆転 [ぎゃくてん] - (sudden) change

俳優 [はいゆう] - actor, actress, player, performer

疑問 [ぎもん] - doubt

権限 [けんげん] - power, authority, jurisdiction

生命 [せいめい] - existence

回 - As the Wheel TURNS

Readings & Meanings:

エ

カイ

まわ（る）

まわ（す）

a turn, to turn

Common Usage:

今回

一回

回復

Examples:

今回だけは見逃してやろう。

人生に一回あるかないかの絶好のチャンスだ。

彼は若いだけあって、回復が早い。

Translations:

I'll let it go this time.

This might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

Since he's young, he's recovering quickly.

Radical:

I don't know if this one qualifies as a radical. Sure, you could say it's got くち（口）. Also, like 国, it's くにがまえ.

But let's just appreciate the pictograph, here. This is clearly something that turns.

I acknowledge that it's not round, but kanji doesn't have circles in it, unless you count calligraphy art.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

栄 - A Blaze of GLORY

Readings & Meanings:

エイ

さか（える）

は（え、える）

flourish, glory

Common Usage:

栄養

栄華

栄枯盛衰

Examples:

栄養バランスを考えて、食事をとる。

昔の栄華はいまいずこ。栄枯盛衰、おごれる者、久しからず。

Translations:

I think about balancing nutrients, and then I select what to eat.

Where is old prosperity now? In the ups and downs of life, the people on top will not be there for long.*

Radical:

The main radical is 木, tree.

On top, we have those three てん again, like in 学. Except don't assume that they are the same radical! Those three てん on top are usually the result of a simplification process that has taken place over centuries. Thus, the three dots might look the same now, but they're in place of very different things.

For this kanji, we know that the three てん on top of 栄 are from a double 火. Look at this former form: 榮. This doesn't literally mean that the tree is on fire. Think of a tree blazing brightly with flowers: in bloom. Hence, the "flourish" part of the meaning.

Between the double 火 and the 木 is a lid, 冖. Think of the bright, beautiful fire/blossoms spreading out, covering a large area. Hence, the greatness, the glory aspect of the kanji.

With all that in mind, I would recommend seeing this kanji and thinking of a great, big tree, burning brightly in a glorious blaze.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

*not sure about this translation, but that seems to be the sense.

絵 - A PICTURE in Thread

Readings & Meanings:

エ

カイ

picture

Common Usage:

絵

絵本

絵画

Examples:

彼女の特技は絵を描くことだ。

子供に絵本を読んでやる。

私の趣味は絵画鑑賞です。

Translations:

Her special skill is drawing pictures.

I'm going to read the children a picture book.

My hobby is art appreciation.

Radical:

How nice! Two common kanji meet in one! 糸 (thread) and 会 (meeting).

Threads meet = picture?

Well, some pictures are made by threads. Think of tapestries. Also think of the threads of the canvas meeting the paint.

But by now you should be thinking, "Oh, wait, 会 ALSO has the pronunciation かい... Maybe it's in this kanji to provide a clue to the pronunciation!" And you'd be very correct.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

得 - GET Some Clams, Go to the Bank

Readings & Meanings:

う（る）

トク

え（る）

acquire, gain

Common Usage:

得点

得る（える）

心得

Examples:

彼は、中間テストでクラスの最高得点を得た。

時代が変わっても質素倹約という武士の心得を忘れない。

Translations:

On the midterm, he got the highest points in the class.

Even if the times are changing, do not forget the knowledge of the simple and modest samurai.

Radical:

ぎょうにんべん is on the left. I don't think we've talked about 彳 before.

It's ironic that the 彳 kanji alone apparently means "stop, linger", because the 彳 as a radical emphatically means "movement, action, go go go." Think of 行く whenever you see 彳.

On the right of 得 you see 貝 in a minimized form on top, and 寸 on the bottom. 寸 means measurement, but it's a symbol of a hand exerting pressure.

Now, what's 貝 doing in this? 貝 as we know it now is kanji for "shellfish." Long ago, in ancient times, shellfish was used as currency. Therefore, 貝 came to be used to symbolize commodities.

(Think of the now-unpopular slang for dollars: "clams.")

Put it all together: Action: shellfish in the hand: receiving goods.

Another way to remember that 得 uses the Gyouninben radical (彳) is to think in terms of going to the bank. 銀行 has that 彳 in there. If you receive money, you should go to the bank.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

John Doe is 名無しの権兵衛

From LanguageHat, and from the Wikipedia page therein mentioned (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doe#Informal_names_for_unknown_or_unspecified_persons_in_various_countries.2Fregions), I found out how Japanese people refer to someone like a "John Doe."

山田太郎 (Yamada Taro, a common male name),

山田花子 (Yamada Hanako, a common female name),

名無しの権兵衛 (Nanashi-no-Gombee, 名無しの means nameless, and 権兵衛 is a rather old-fashioned male name.),

何野某 (Nanno Nanigashi, old-fashioned)

Neat. I like 名無しの権兵衛. It sounds like it's out of a fairy-tale.

泳 - SWIMMING Forever and Ever

Readings & Meanings:

エイ

およ（ぐ）

swim

Common Usage:

水泳

泳ぐ

寒中水泳

Examples:

僕は水泳が苦手だ。

僕は泳ぐのが苦手だ。

気合を入れるために、お正月早々、海で寒中水泳する人もいる。

Translations:

I'm not good at swimming.

I'm not good at swimming.

There are even some people who, in the early morning of New Year's Day, go winter-swimming to get in the spirit of things.

Radical:

水 shows up here double-time. First, 水 is on the left, in its San-zui form of three droplets.

Then, we see 永, which I just discussed in the last post. 永 on its own means forever, but its origin is in a pictograph of many rivers.

Think of 泳 as something you do at length, in many rivers.

Or you could think of a tired swimmer at swimming practice, thinking to himself "Practice today is taking FOREVER."


Side note: this is a good example of how radicals can help you. If you know that 永 is pronounced えい, it's easier to remember that 水泳 is pronounced すいえい.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

永 - The Rivers Go On FOREVER

Readings & Meanings:

エイ

なが（い）

eternal

Common Usage:

永久に

永眠

末長い

Examples:

その文書は永久に保存されることが決まった。

長い闘病生活の末、彼はついに永眠した。

末永いお付き合いを宜しくお願いします。

Translations:

We have decided to preserve these writings forever.

After a long, protracted fight against the disease, he finally passed into eternal sleep.

I hope that this is the beginning of a long friendship.

Radical:

水 = water.

That's what I think of when I look at this kanji. Water. And then I look at the top, and see that little piece jutting off, and then I know it's 永, meaning eternal.

When reaching for an explanation, I think of the Greek idea "Nothing eternal but change," which comes packaged with the idea of a river: the river changes, but it is always the same while always changing.

When we reach back into the origins of this kanji, we get the idea of water splitting into many rivers. The length and breadth of the many tributaries of the rivers is too great to measure with your eyes. 永's thought concept is that an eternal amount of time is immeasurable, like trying to measure the amount of water in a river and its divisions.

Important:

Please do not confuse 永 (forever) with 氷 (ice).

永 has two splits at the top of 水, signifying many rivers splitting off.

氷 has only one chip of ice on the left. And is delicious in the summer as かき氷.

References:

http://www.kanjinetworks.com/indices/radindex.html
http://www.thejapanesepage.com/node/kanji/e.htm

Habits

I think the most helpful advice I can give, at this point, to someone studying Japanese or any language is this: if you've got a sustainable habit, DON'T BREAK IT.

Look at me. I had a busy week in February and allowed it to knock my studying off track. Since then, it's been one thing after another, and I haven't gotten back into the habit.

It's never a good idea to take a break. Sure, emergencies come up, but if you are committed to learning the language, find a way to keep studying every day.

The second most helpful advice I can give you is: don't become locked into one way of studying.

Contradictory? Not really. If you've got a sustainable habit, then there's no need to change it. If you have the time to learn, practice, and memorize 100 kanji a day, then do it. However, if you find that you don't have that kind of time every day, don't say this:

"Well, if I can't do it completely, I just won't do it at all."

If you can't study your normal 100 kanji, then that habit was not sustainable. Change it. Study 1 kanji a day.

/preach

Mixi no tame ni

I think it's a bit hard on my Mixi friends to view all of my kanji entries. I mean, there are usually so many it's sure to be overwhelming.

Plus, Mixi is changing its terms of service to own all user-made content. I don't think this would extend to blogs hosted elsewhere, but it's scary enough to make me change the way I use Mixi.

So here's the deal: I'm creating a special Mixi label in my blog, and only the posts that have that label will appear in Mixi.

Let me know if this is lame, or if you want to keep getting all my kanji posts in your Mixi feed.

Break Over... Tomorrow

Sokasoka updates will return tomorrow.