kanji
Let an agent explain kanji, relay history, readings, standard lists and learning approaches from linguistics and Japanese government sources, describe the named forms and lists, and distinguish kanji from hanzi in Chinese, hanja in Korean, kana and romaji.
Research draft, second pass
A second pass drafted this model: the structure a model of this thing needs, and what is known about it in the world. The line under this one says how the second half was obtained - researched against sources, or recalled without web access, in which case nothing here was read anywhere and every claim is a lead to verify. Unreviewed either way.
written by Claude from model knowledge without web access - no source was read, every claim is a lead to verify
Researched by: Claude
Purpose and description
Let an agent explain kanji, relay history, readings, standard lists and learning approaches from linguistics and Japanese government sources, describe the named forms and lists, and distinguish kanji from hanzi in Chinese, hanja in Korean, kana and romaji.
The logographic Chinese characters used in the Japanese writing system alongside the hiragana and katakana syllabaries, adopted from about the 5th century, read with Chinese-derived on readings and native kun readings, with historical and standardised forms the registry aliases name, including manyogana, kanji used phonetically in early texts such as the Manyoshu, the kyujitai traditional forms, the shinjitai simplified forms adopted after 1946, the Toyo kanji list of 1850 characters of 1946, extended characters beyond official lists, and kuzushiji cursive simplified forms; the Joyo kanji list of 2010 contains 2136 characters.
What it is for: Writing Japanese.
It can be explain the script; relay history and readings; describe named forms and lists; distinguish related scripts.
Distinguishing features
Logographic
Multiple readings
Standardised lists
Mixed with kana
What it looks like
Complex characters built from strokes and radicals, written in grid-like squares.
Physical character
Joyo kanji: 2136 characters - 2010 revision
Toyo kanji: 1850 characters - 1946
Jinmeiyo kanji for names: about 860 characters - varies with revisions
How it is recognised
Chinese characters used in Japanese
Manyogana, shinjitai, Toyo kanji, kyujitai, extended kanji, kuzushiji
Hanzi are Chinese usage; hanja are Korean usage; kana are syllabaries; romaji is Latin transcription
Related models
is a kind of - in registry terms
derives from -
is used with - and katakana
is contrasted with -
In practice
Families and kinds
Joyo kanji
Jinmeiyo kanji
kyujitai and shinjitai forms
manyogana
kokuji or Japanese-made characters
cursive and simplified forms
Standards and regulation
Joyo Kanji list issued by the Japanese government
JIS X 0208 and JIS X 0213 character sets
Unicode CJK Unified Ideographs
Failure modes and hazards
Assuming one reading per character
Confusing Japanese and Chinese simplified forms
Mojibake from encoding mismatches
Also called
Where this came from
wikidata · CC0 1.0
Drafted structure
Bundle to layer to finding to question, as the second pass will find it: 4 bundles · 8 layers · 8 findings · 16 questions.
Understand What kanji are.
Definition.
Definition
Definition.
Definition
Definition.
- What are kanji, and how do they differ from hanzi, hanja, kana and romaji? definition
- Is the question about learning, history, computing or a specific character? boundary
Forms
Named forms and lists.
Forms
Forms.
- What are manyogana, shinjitai, kyujitai, Toyo kanji, extended kanji and kuzushiji? definition
- Which entry fits the specific form? action
Linguistics Readings and structure.
Sources.
Readings
On and kun readings.
Readings
Readings.
- How do on and kun readings work? provenance
- Which references are standard? provenance
Radicals
Radicals and strokes.
Radicals
Radicals.
- How are kanji built from radicals and stroke order? provenance
- Which sources are cited? provenance
Policy Script policy.
Regulation.
Lists
Official lists.
Lists
Lists.
- How did Toyo and Joyo kanji lists and postwar reforms change usage? provenance
- Which entry fits Joyo kanji? action
Computing
Encoding.
Computing
Computing.
- How are kanji encoded in JIS and Unicode? provenance
- Which entry fits Han unification? action
Context History and learning.
Context.
History
History.
History
History.
- How were Chinese characters adopted in Japan, and how did manyogana lead to kana? provenance
- Which entry fits Manyoshu? action
Learning
Learning.
Learning
Learning.
- How do Japanese schools and learners study kanji, including the Kanji Kentei? provenance
- Which entry fits Kanji Kentei? action
What the second pass must settle
- Should the named lists and forms be separate entries?
- How should Japanese government sources be linked?
- Which entry should extended kanji point to, as it is ambiguous?