Japanese writing

Kanji 漢字 Image File history File links 書.svg‎ The Chinese character 書, in regular script. ...   Japanese writing Kanji Kana Hiragana Katakana Hentaigana Manyōgana Uses Furigana Okurigana Rōmaji This article describes the modern Japanese writing system and its history. ... Japanese writing Kanji Kana Hiragana Katakana Hentaigana Manyōgana Uses Furigana Okurigana Rōmaji Kanji (Japanese:  ) are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana (平仮名), katakana (片仮名), and the Hindu-Arabic numerals. ...

Kana 仮名 Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Manyogana 万葉仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 For other meanings of Kana, see Kana (disambiguation). ...

• Hiragana 平仮名
• Katakana 片仮名
• Hentaigana 変体仮名
• Man'yōgana 万葉仮名

Uses Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 Hiragana ) are a Japanese syllabary, one of the four Japanese writing systems, along with katakana, kanji and rōmaji (i. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Romaji ローマ字 Hentaigana (変体仮名) are alternative kana letterforms equivalent to standard kana characters. ... Manyōgana (万葉仮名) is an ancient form of Japanese kana based on kanji (Chinese characters). ...

• Furigana 振り仮名
• Okurigana 送り仮名

Rōmaji ローマ字

Okurigana (送り仮名, literally "accompanying letters") are kana suffixes following kanji stems in Japanese written words. Generally used to inflect an adjective or verb, okurigana can indicate tense (past or present/future), affirmative/negative meaning, or grammatical politeness, among many other functions. In modern usage, okurigana are almost invariably written with hiragana; katakana were also commonly used in the past. Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 Category Furigana (Japanese: ふりがな), are a Japanese reading aid. ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Manyogana 万葉仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 Romanization of Japanese words, which are written in ideographic characters borrowed from Chinese (kanji) and syllabic scripts (kana) may be done on street signs for foreigners, transcription of names, and in dictionaries and textbooks for learners of the... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Manyogana 万葉仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 For other meanings of Kana, see Kana (disambiguation). ... Japanese writing Kanji Kana Hiragana Katakana Hentaigana Manyōgana Uses Furigana Okurigana Rōmaji Kanji (Japanese:  ) are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana (平仮名), katakana (片仮名), and the Hindu-Arabic numerals. ... Japanese (,  ) is a language spoken by over 130 million people, mainly in Japan, but also by Japanese emigrant communities around the world. ... Japanese writing Kanji 漢字 Kana 仮名 Hiragana 平仮名 Katakana 片仮名 Uses Furigana 振り仮名 Okurigana 送り仮名 Rōmaji ローマ字 Hiragana ) are a Japanese syllabary, one of the four Japanese writing systems, along with katakana, kanji and rōmaji (i. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Inflection Examples

Adjectives in Japanese use okurigana to indicate tense and affirmation/negation, with all adjectives using the same pattern of suffixes for each case. A simple example uses the character "高" (high) to express the four basic cases of a Japanese adjective. The root meaning of the word is expressed via the kanji ("高", read taka and meaning "high" in each of these cases), but crucial information (negation and tense) can only be understood by reading the okurigana following the kanji stem. An adjective is a part of speech which modifies a noun, usually describing it or making its meaning more specific. ... Grammatical tense is a way languages express the time at which an event described by a sentence occurs. ...

高い (takai) 

High (positive, present/future), meaning "[It is] expensive" or "[It is] high"

高かった (takakatta) 

High (positive, past), meaning "[It was] expensive/high"

高くない (takakunai) 

High (negative, present/future), meaning "[It is not] expensive/high"

高くなかった (takakunakatta) 

High (negative, past), meaning "[It was not] expensive/high"

Japanese verbs follow a similar pattern; the root meaning is generally expressed by using one or more kanji at the start of the word, and then tense, negation, grammatical politeness, and other language features are expressed by following okurigana. This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... Japanese (,  ) is a language spoken by over 130 million people, mainly in Japan, but also by Japanese emigrant communities around the world. ...

食べる (taberu) 

To eat (positive, present/future, direct politeness), meaning "[I/you/etc.] eat"

食べない (tabenai) 

To eat (negative, present/future, direct), meaning "[I/you/etc.] do not eat"

食べた (tabeta) 

To eat (positive, past, direct), meaning "[I/you/etc.] ate/have eaten"

食べなかった (tabenakatta) 

To eat (negative, past, direct), meaning "[I/you/etc.] did not eat/have not eaten"

Compare the direct polite verb forms to their distant forms, which follow a similar pattern, but whose meaning indicates more distance between the speaker and the listener:

食べます (tabemasu) 

To eat (positive, present/future, distant politeness), meaning "[My group/your group] eats"

食べません (tabemasen) 

To eat (negative, present/future, distant), meaning "[My group/your group] does not eat"

食べました (tabemashita) 

To eat (positive, past, distant), meaning "[My group/your group] ate/has eaten"

食べませんでした (tabemasen deshita) 

To eat (negative, past, distant), meaning "[My group/your group] did not eat/has not eaten"

Disambiguation of Kanji

Okurigana are also used to disambiguate kanji that have multiple readings. Since kanji, especially the most common ones, can be used for words with many (usually similar) meanings—but different pronunciations—key okurigana placed after the kanji help the reader to know which meaning and reading were intended. Japanese writing Kanji Kana Hiragana Katakana Hentaigana Manyōgana Uses Furigana Okurigana Rōmaji Kanji (Japanese:  ) are the Chinese characters that are used in the modern Japanese logographic writing system along with hiragana (平仮名), katakana (片仮名), and the Hindu-Arabic numerals. ...

Disambiguation examples include common verbs which use the characters "上" (up) and "下" (down):

上がる (agaru) 

"to ascend/to make ready/to complete", in which 上 is read "a"

上る (noboru) 

"to climb/to go up", in which 上 is read "nobo"

下さる (kudasaru) 

"to give [to the speaker as an inferior]", in which 下 is read "kuda"

下りる (oriru) 

"to get off/to descend", in which 下 is read "o"

下がる (sagaru) 

"to dangle", in which 下 is read "sa"

Another example includes a common verb with different meanings based on the okurigana:

話す (hanasu) 

"to speak/to talk". Example: ちゃんと話す方がいい。(chanto hanasu hou ga ii), meaning "It's better if you speak correctly."

話し (hanashi) 

noun form of the verb hanasu, "to speak". Example: 話し言葉と書き言葉 (hanashi kotoba to kaki kotoba), meaning "spoken words and written words".

話 (hanashi) 

noun, meaning "a story" or "a talk". Example: 話はいかが？ (hanashi wa ikaga?), meaning "How about a story?"

While the Japanese Ministry of Education prescribes rules on how to use okurigana, in practice there is much variation, particularly in older texts and online. As an example, the standard spelling of the word "kuregata" is 暮れ方, but it will sometimes be seen as 暮方. Office building Office building The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology ), also known as MEXT, is one of the ministries of the Japanese government. ...