Click the picure to expand.
Can you guess which kanji describes which picture?
There is the answer in the blow explanations.
These are simple, basic and important kanji.
Japanese people learn them for first year of elementary school.
These kanji almost look like pictures!
Don’t you think so?
By the way, the above kanji, especially 山, 川 and 田 are often used in Japanese family names because a lot of Japanese people decided their family name depend on where they lived.
Do you have any Japanese friends with these kanji?
These are example words including the above kanji.
山 mountain
山（yama）：mountain
富士山（fujisan）：Mt.Fuji
火山（kazan）：volcano
田 field
田んぼ（tanbo）：rice field
田畑（tahata）：field
田植え（taue）：rice planting
口 mouth
口（kuchi）：mouth
入り口（iriguchi）：entrance
口づけ（kuchizuke）：kiss
門 gate
門（mon）：gate
門限（mongen）：curfew
門番（monban）：doorkeeper, gatekeeper
川 river
川（kawa）：river
川原（kawara）：riverbank, river side
ナイル川（nairu gawa）：Nile river
There are a lot of kanji made from the shape.
But some of them are too difficult (actually almost impossible!) to tell the meaning from the kanji.
老 means "old"
This kanji (should) look like old person who cannot stand straight.
肉 means "meat"
This kanji (should) look like meat with nerve.
卵 means "egg"
This kanji (should) look like eggs of fish or frog.
Hmm... what do you think!?
The Kanji for meat looks like meat that was hung up to dry (or hung up in a smokehouse). That's how I remember it.
ReplyDelete(do a google image search for "smokehouse" to see why I think this).
I can definately see those basic 5 kanji being what they're representing. Some, in my opinion, require a bit of imagination. For example, according to my textbook Nakama, 私 is supposed to look like a grain stalk and a sickle. The idea being that the person who cuts down the grain stalk is yourself, since you'll be eating of that grain. That somehow doesn't seem belivable, since I'm not a farmer so its hard to see that picture. If you think hard enough on it, you can see this idea in your head.
ReplyDeleteOnce you get the hang of it, I think other more complicated kanji become easier to see. 愛 is another one our teacher helped us remember. Unfortunately, he's a little perverted so I won't repeat how he got us to remember it (it was very weird to hear him talk about such stuff in class).
-Christopher (who now has a blogger account)
>Andy in San Diego and Elsewhere
ReplyDeleteSince I read your comments, the kanji for meat looks meat...!
Also the kanji for egg looks like strung eggs .
Don't you think so?
I'll try to teach my students these kanji with drawing from now on. (^ ^)
>Life in the superStructure
The kanji of your photo for bird looks like bird!
That's an sign for a restaurant, right? (^ ^)
I think it's a good idea to remember kanji with pictures, too.
Looking forward to your new photos for kanji.
I'll try to write more blog about kanji from the shape, too.
There are still some wild bears in Japan.
(Maybe in Kumagaya, too!)
We sometimes hear news about bears, like people were attacked by bear and they haven't found the bear yet... something like that...
That's scary, isn't it!??
Are there bears in your hometown?
>Christopher who now has a blogger account
Congratulations on having blogger account! (^o^)
In my dictionary, the explanation for the kanji 私 (watashi) is almost same as your explanation, too.
The left part describes "crop, grain".
The right part describes "holding, monopoly".
I didn't know the history of the kanji 私, in spite of using the word everyday!
About the kanji for love, 愛 (ai), the hisory is quite complecated...
My dictionary says the kanji describes "a person feels sad, so it's difficult to him/her to walk straight".
Hmm...
By the way, what does it mean? (^ ^;)
>it was very weird to hear him talk about such stuff in class
Wow!
ReplyDeleteThat movie seems scary but interesting, too!