The Japanese Writing Systems
The Japanese Writing Systems
There are three Japanese writing systems:
Kanji are Chinese characters, and each one has a specific meaning. Many kanji have multiple meanings and can be read different ways. Hiragana and katakana are phonetic characters derived from the more complicated kanji. They each represent a sound and do not have meaning by themselves.
The three writing systems are used together to write Japanese. Hiragana and kanji are used together to form all Japanese words. Katakana is mostly used to represent words of foreign origin or any word that was not originally Japanese. In daily life the combination of these three systems, plus roman letters called "ro–maji", are used in all types of media.
| Hiragana (pronounced "hear-uh-gah-nah") |
| Katakana (pronounced "kah-tah-kah-nah") |
| Kanji (pronounced "kahn-jee") |
Kanji are Chinese characters, and each one has a specific meaning. Many kanji have multiple meanings and can be read different ways. Hiragana and katakana are phonetic characters derived from the more complicated kanji. They each represent a sound and do not have meaning by themselves.
The three writing systems are used together to write Japanese. Hiragana and kanji are used together to form all Japanese words. Katakana is mostly used to represent words of foreign origin or any word that was not originally Japanese. In daily life the combination of these three systems, plus roman letters called "ro–maji", are used in all types of media.