I-RO-HA, 1st special part

Day 630, 19:24 • Published in Japan Japan • by Kyonkyon

Today there is a special part.

I write about Japanese script.

You may ask?

Why there are kanji and kana in Japanese?

Most languages have only one script.

English roman letters, Russian cyril letters, Korean hangul letters.

In old times, there was not Japanese script.

So Japanese used the Chinese Kanji.

But Kanji are difficult to write. Also Japanese language is different to Chinese.

It was difficult to write correct Japanese only with Chinese letters.

That is why Japanese people started using kana.

Kana shows only sound. It is easy to study.

But if kana is easy, why do Japanese still use Kanji?

Because many words have the same sound in Japanese.

For example for "ki" there are many words.

木
気
着
機
記
期
奇
器
樹
帰
貴
旗
鬼
亀

All these words are read ki. So if we just right ki in kana like this (き) it is difficult to understand correct meaning.

But why there are many words with same sound?

Many Japanese words are from Chinese. Chinese is very difficult to speak correct. They have 4 tones and more sounds than Japanese. Japanese people can not understand difference, so many words that sound different in Chinese, sound the same in Japanese.


Korea

By the way, in Korea they use only hangul.
But they have used kanji for long time.
Korean people now use only hangul, but sometimes they use kanji, when meaning is not clear.
Some Koreans say, it is better to use hangul and kanji together, like in Japan.
Others say kanji are difficult and must use only hangul.


Vietnam

In Vietnam, they use latin alphabet. But they used kanji. Alphabet used because Vietnam was French colony.


Conclusion

Japan, Korea and Vietnam had no script. They used kanji. But because kanji is difficult Japanese use kana with kanji, Koreans use hangul only and Vietnamese use latin alphabet.
Different way to deal with kanji!


☆☆☆
If there are Koreans or others who can speak Korean, please come in contact with me. I need help because I do not know how to speak Korean correct.