The Japanese Language

1
Nihongo

• The Japanese Language
• The Basic Components

2
The Japanese Language Consists of Three Kinds of
Characters

• Hiragana

• Katakana

• Kanji

Ka
3
Kanji

• One can represent one or more different meanings.
• There are over 50,000 different Kanji.
• The average person only knows about 1700 Kanji.
• Originally came from China.
• Hiragana and Katakana are descended from Kanji

4
Hiragana

• Was a simplified version of Chinese cursive
  script.
• Wasnt accepted by men but found favor among
  women.
• Each symbol is either a vowel or a consonant
  followed by a vowel.
• Used for words that do not have Kanji.

5
Katakana

• In modern Japanese Katakana is used for the
  transcription of foreign words.
• Also used for onomatopoeias.
• Was originally developed as a short hand to
  Manyogana.
• Manyogana uses Chinese characters to
  phonetically represent the Japanese language.

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