Lawrence

Collins Japanese 120/Iwasaki 15 November 2012 The Need for Kanji Since the introduction of Chinese characters in the Japanese language, there have been

movements to reduce and simplify the use of kanji. Though these movements resulted in the creation of hiragana and katakana, it was not until the West brought not only their modern technology, but their writing system(s) as well, that the notion of completely abolishing the use of kanji in the Japanese writing system first began. Reasons for replacing kanji, or even the entire Japanese orthography, with the more Western-friendly Latin alphabet have varied from allowing Japanese to be a more easily accessible language and culture, to claims of elitism among those that can read and understand kanji. Though the current state of kanjis use, or even disuse, in the Japanese language is not a perfect system, there still remains value in the continual use of kanji. During the Meiji period, when Japan began to modernize, there were great strides made to make Japanese a more unified language, both in spoken language and written. Prior contact with the West had made an impression on the Japanese who took notice of the simplicity of their alpha- betic writing, and conversely the Westerners began to vilify the complex Japanese writing system (Twine). Though kanji may not be as simple as the Latin alphabet, even whose use among various languages too presents several challenges, as kanji is not simply an alphabet, it simultaneously contributes multiple layers of meaning. Though only approximately 12% of kanji can be considered pictographs, kanji also contribute phonetic and semantic meaning. A common objection for kanjis continual use is the presence of kun-yomi and on-yomi readings, with which approximately 60% of the Jy kanji contain both readings (Matsunaga). This condition of multiple readings not only reflects the cohesiveness of Sino-Japanese and native Japanese vocabulary, but also shows the inge- nuity of kanji and allows for a systemic approach for reading kanji. The kanji can be used as a

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noun as in , the verb , and the compound . Though the native Japanese and Sino- Japanese readings are different, knowing a word prior to knowing its kanji, as a Japanese child or even a Japanese learner would, the reading of a compound such as would not require one to have prior knowledge on the individual kanjis on/kun-readings as the kanjis meaning tells the reader the word, from which one would know how to read said kanji. Kanji also differentiate be- tween phonetically same, yet semantically different, words. The verbs, both pronounced , written as and both mean to cry, yet the latter refers specifically to an animals (eg bird) cry. Given that a humans and birds cries are not likely to be mistake as the same, it is often used as a criticism against the use of kanji (Backhouse). As to cry is pronounced , whether human or animal, the use of multiple kanji, similarly with Japaneses multitude of homophones such as / , , and /, as kanji is often comprised of smaller semantic parts/radicals (eg s and), the inclusion of more than one kanji adds to the semantic meaning and distinction be- tween homophones. An additional claim used by those opposed to the use of kanji is the difficulty of learning the

several thousand kanji necessary to be literate in Japanese. Granted that 2,000 characters are quan- titatively harder to remember than several dozen letters, it is not an insurmountable feat nor is it limited only to native-Japanese, as millions of non-Japanese are able to speak, read and write Japanese not just successfully but outstandingly well (Gottlieb). Similarly to Latin and Greek affixes used in English, a words kanji gives meaning to more complex words, yet unlike English, the affixes meaning is clearer than in English. As both native and Sino-Japanese words use the same kanji for their meaning, one is able to know a words meaning from the kanji used, unlike Latin and Greek words used in English, which bare no resemblance to the Germanic-based, native English equivalent, despite using the same alphabet. This semantic transparency, as Suzuki describes, allows Japanese readers to have a greater ability to learn more complex vocabulary using kanji than

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English readers using the Latin alphabet. An average English speaker would be unaware of the meaning, and possibly the pronunciation and spelling as well, of the word brachycephalic, yet from this words kanji () one is not only able to know the terms meaning, but the reading as well from and (Backhouse). The ambiguousness of kanji, as Ezaki details, does allow for flexibility and creative use of kanji, as well as the other scripts used in Japanese. However, Ezaki views this ambiguousness as proof of the dispensability of kanji. The use of hearing as both and by the same author is said to further complicate the already complex system by the arbitrary use of kanji. Inter- script replacement, as in usinginstead of the kanji, or even replacing Japanese with English with as furigana for or by havingpronounced asas in justsize!, is claimed to show that kanji is not only imprecise, but also unnecessary (Ezaki). Those like Ezaki who view this use of kanji as detrimental view kanji as a separate, unrelated part of the language and do not connect kanji with Japanese culture as a whole. Japans extensive borrowing from foreign countries and languages, by which kanji itself entered Japanese, is present throughout the language and culture. As kanji originated from Chinese and was modified to fit the use of Japanese, so has other languages, especially English, been taken and fitted to Japanese. Replacing Japanese words with English words fitted to Japanese grammar, such asas opposed toand making (to buy) Hagen-Dazs the verb , is prevalent in modern Japanese (Gottlieb). The recent inclusion of over a hundred more kanji to the Jy kanji list (Ezaki) shows the increasing need and use of kanji in Japanese. The use of kanji in Japanese has become both simplified and more creative over time. Des- pite attempts to further eliminate kanji to the point of nonuse, there continues to be a need and new uses for kanji. Though learning kanji may be a challenge for many, learning to use kanji is not an impossible task and allows for great use and flexibility with the language than an alphabet. Mixing

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and interchanging scripts and languages continues to be a part of the Japanese language and culture, as seen in the phrasebeing read in manga asor the use of phrases like in Japanese music. Inclusion of furigana or disuse of kanji that only contain semantic dif- ferences in the original Chinese may aid in learning kanji, but kanji remains a necessary part of Japanese.

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Works Cited Backhouse, A.E. 1984. Aspects of the graphological structure of Japanese. Visible Language XVIII. pp. 219-228.

Ezaki, Motoko. 2010. Strategic deviations: The role of kanji in contemporary Japanese. Japanese Language and Literature 44:179-212.

Gottlieb, Nanette. 2005. The Japanese language. Language and society. Cambridge University Press. pp. 1-17. Matsunaga, Sachiko. The linguistic nature of kanji reexamined: Do kanji represent only meaning? Journal of Association of Teachers of Japanese. 30:2. pp. 1-22.

Twine, Nanette. Towards simplicity: Script reform movements in the Meiji period. Monumenta Mipponica XXXVIII:2. pp. 115-132.