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Remembering the Kanji 3: Writing and Reading the Japanese Characters for Upper-Level Proficiency PDF

430 Pages·2008·5.74 MB·english
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Japanese language R e James W. Heisig (cid:129) Tanya Sienko m e Students who have learned to read and write the basic 2,000 char- m acters run into the same diffi culty that university students in b Japan face: the government-approved list of basic educational e kanji are not suffi cient for advanced reading and writing. Although r Remembering the Kanji 3 i n each academic specialization requires supplementary kanji of its g own, a large number of these kanji overlap. With that in mind, the t same methods employed in Volumes 1 and 2 of Remembering the h Writing and Reading Japanese Characters for Kanji have been applied to 1,000 additional characters determined e as useful for upper-level profi ciency, and the results published as K Upper-Level Profi ciency the third volume in the series. a n To identify the extra 1,000 characters, frequency lists were j i researched and cross-checked against a number of standard Japan- 3 ese kanji dictionaries. Separate parts of the book are devoted to · learning the writing and reading of these characters. The writing h requires only a handful of new “primitive elements.” A few are e introduced as compound primitives (“measure words”) or as i s alternative forms for standard kanji. The majority of the kanji, 735 i g in all, are organized according to the elements introduced in Volume 1. For the reading, about twenty-fi ve percent of the new & kanji fall into “pure groups” that use a single “signal primitive” to s identify the main Chinese reading. Another thirty percent of the i e new kanji belong to groups with one exception or to mixed groups n in which the signal primitives have two readings. The remaining k 306 characters are organized fi rst according to readings that can o be intuited from the meaning or dominant primitive element, and then according to useful compound terms. Six indexes include hand-drawn samples of the new characters introduced and cumulative lists of the key words and primitive meanings, and of the Chinese and Japanese pronunciations, that appear in all 3 volumes of the series. James W. Heisig is professor and permanent research fellow at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture in Nagoya, Japan. Tanya Sienko spent ten years working for the Japanese government and Japanese industry. After a period at the Warburg Institute in London, she returned to the U.S. and now works as an entrepreneur. University of Hawai‘i Press Honolulu, Hawai‘i 96822-1888 www.uhpress.hawaii.edu remembering the kanji 3 RK3 (UHP).indb i 10/11/2007 8:27:25 AM by the same author Remembering the Kana: A Guide to Reading and Writing the Japanese Syllabaries in 3 Hours Each. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007 (1987) Remembering the Kanji 1: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing of Japanese Characters. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2007 (1977) Remembering the Kanji 2: A Systematic Guide to Reading Japanese Characters. Honolulu: University of Hawai‘i Press, 2008 (1987) Kanji para recordar i: Curso mnemotécnico para el aprendizaje de la escritura y el signifi cado de los caracteres japoneses (with Marc Bernabé and Verònica Calafell). Barcelona: Herder Editorial, 2005 (2001) Kanji para recordar ii: Guía sistemática para la lectura de los caracteres japone- ses (with Marc Bernabé and Verònica Calafell). Barcelona: Herder Editorial, 2004 Kana para recordar: Curso mnemotécnico para el aprendizaje de los silabarios japoneses (with Marc Bernabé and Verònica Calafell). Barcelona: Herder Edi- torial, 2005 (2003) Die Kanji lernen und behalten 1. Bedeutung und Schreibw eise der japanischen Schrift zeichen (with Robert Rauther). Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Kloster- mann Verlag, 2006 (2005) Die Kanji lernen und behalten 2. Systematische Anleitung zu den Lesungen der japanischen Schrift zeichen (with Robert Rauther). Frankfurt am Main: Vitto- rio Klostermann Verlag, 2006 Die Kana lernen und behalten. Die japanische Silbenschrift lesen und schreiben in je drei Stunden (with Klaus Gresbrand). Frankfurt am Main: Vittorio Kloster mann Verlag, 2006 Kanji: Imaginar para aprender (with Rafael Shoji). São Paulo: jbc Editora, 2007 RK3 (UHP).indb ii 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM Remembering the Kanji vol. 3 Writing and Reading Japanese Characters for Upper-Level Profi ciency James W. Heisig & Tanya Sienko second edition University of Hawai‘i Press honolulu RK3 (UHP).indb iii 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM Copyright © 1994, 2008 by James W. Heisig All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form without the written permission of the publisher. Printed in the United States of America First edition: 2nd printing, 1995 Second edition: 1st printing, 2008 12 11 10 09 08 07 6 5 4 3 2 1 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Heisig, James W., 1944- Remembering the kanji : a complete course on how not to forget the meaning and writing of Japanese characters / James W. Heisig. — 5th ed. v. <1> ; cm. Includes indexes. ISBN 978-0-8248-3165-3 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Japanese language—Orthography and spelling. 2. Chinese characters— Japan. 3. Japanese language—Textbooks for foreign speakers—English. I. Title. PL547.H4 2007 495.6’82421—dc22 2006103109 Th e typesetting for this book was done at the Nanzan Institute for Religion and Culture. University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid-free paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Council on Library Resources. RK3 (UHP).indb iv 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM Contents Preface by Tanya Sienko 1 Introduction 3 part one: writing 1 New Primitives and Kanji Primitives 13 2 Major Primitive Elements 24 3 Miscellaneous Kanji 120 4 Western Measurements 134 5 Phonetic Characters 136 6 Old and Alternate Forms 138 part two: reading 7 Old Pure Groups 149 8 New Pure Groups 171 9 Semi-Pure Groups 198 10 Mixed Groups 221 11 A Potpourri of Readings 250 12 Kanji with Japanese Readings Only 288 13 Readings of Old and Alternate Forms 298 14 Supplementary Kanji 301 v RK3 (UHP).indb v 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM vi | contents indexes Index i Hand-Drawn Characters 309 Index ii Primitive Elements 318 Index iii Kanji in Stroke Order 323 Index iv Chinese Readings 338 Index v Japanese Readings 357 Index vi Key Words and Primitive Meanings 404 RK3 (UHP).indb vi 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM Preface Tanya Sienko When I first contacted Dr. Heisig with a proposal to add a third volume to Remembering the Kanji, I somehow left the impression that it was my rather esoteric needs as a scientist that left me hankering for more kanji than the 2,042 I had learned with his method. Actually, it was not the technical prose of Yukawa and Tomonaga on fi eld theory that were causing me my biggest head- aches but ordinary Japanese novels. Having read mystery novels to polish my reading in other languages, I was disappointed to fi nd that the “essential” or “general-use” characters were simply not enough to gain entry into the Japa- nese thriller. Aft er just a few chapters, my maiden voyage ended on the rocks. So much for “basic literacy,” I thought to myself. And so was born the idea for this book. During the time of the American Occupation, the Japanese writing sys- tem underwent a complete overhaul, which saw the number of Chinese char- acters to be learned during the years of compulsory education reduced to a bare minimum of 1,850. Th e idea was to simplify the system and facilitate lit- eracy by removing rarely used kanji from circulation. What the reformers did not count on in their long-range plan was the resistance of the general pub- lic to the disappearance of many kanji customarily used for names. Families reacted by continuing to name their children with “traditional” names, but the government refused to register the kanji. Th is resulted in the bizarre situ- ation where a number of Japanese were growing up legally nameless. In 1951 the Ministry of Education grudgingly backed down and approved another 92 “legal” characters for names, followed by another 28 in 1976. In 1981 the num- ber of “general-use” kanji was increased in 1,945 and in 1990 the kanji approved for use in names was increased to 284. Th is is the situation at present. Of course, there were still numerous kanji outside the list that continued to be used in place names, or that appeared in books published before the edu- cational reforms and were impractical to update. Over the past twenty years many of these exiled characters have migrated back into daily use. Advertis- ers oft en prefer the compactness and precision of older kanji to their phonetic 1 RK3 (UHP).indb 1 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM 2 | preface equivalents. Increasing competition has induced universities to include more and more “unoffi cial” kanji in their entrance examinations. And popular nov- elists, as always, cling tenaciously to their cache of little-known glyphs as a mark of the trade. Finally, the ubiquitous word processor has turned the dis- tinction between what is “allowed” and what is “disallowed” into something of an anachronism. For the foreign student who has landed in this mess, there have been only two alternatives: either you adhere to the offi cial list, or you stumble about blindly trying to improve your knowledge as best you can. Th e idea behind the present book was to off er a third choice: supplementary kanji to lay a solid basis for contemporary Japanese. In addition to the method of selection explained in Dr. Heisig’s introduc- tion, I myself checked the fi nal list against Edward Daub et al., Compre hending Technical Japanese (University of Wisconsin Press, 1975), which used fre- quency lists to determine the 500 kanji most used in technical writings. With the exception of characters specifi c to one fi eld, this list is represented in the pages that follow. Of the many people who assisted me in this project, I would like particularly to express my thanks to Ronald D. Mabbitt for help in the cross-referencing and for his many useful suggestions on the structure of the book; and Kanda Yumiko 神田由美子 for checking some of the more obscure compounds. RK3 (UHP).indb 2 10/11/2007 8:27:26 AM Introduction The american philosopher William James once wrote that a great idea goes through three stages on its way to acceptance. First, it is dismissed as non- sense. Th en it is acknowledged as true, but insignifi cant. Finally, it is seen to be important, but not really anything new. Time and again history confi rms the wisdom of James’s observation, but it also reminds us that the very same bias that resists the invasion of novelty also serves to swat away many a fl ea-brained idea buzzing about for attention. In this connection, I must admit I am of two minds about Remem bering the Kanji and its companion volumes. I have always had the sense that there was something fl ea-brained about the whole project. Its reception by students of the Japanese language across the world has been as much a surprise to me as to the original publishers. We had expected no more than a short buzz, followed by a fi rm whack into oblivion. From the start I was convinced that if there was anything important in the method, it surely was nothing new. All I had done, aft er all, was to put some semblance of order into what students of the kanji had always done: trick their minds into making easily forgettable shapes more memorable. Th e sales of the books, as well as scores of letters from readers, has convinced me that this is, in fact, the case. On the one hand, the method seems to have proved itself a natural one suited to large numbers of students motivated to study the kanji on their own. On the other, it remains virtually useless for classroom instruction. Th is is hardly surprising, since it aims to do something the classroom cannot do, namely to tap the imagination of the individual at the individual’s own learn- ing pace. To the native speaker of Japanese trained in the traditional school system and trying to teach the Japanese writing system to those whose pri- mary education was outside of the “kanji curtain,” it can only appear a dis- tracting gimmick. For one who does not know from experience the question behind the method, the answer—even if it works—makes no sense. Whatever the merits of Remembering the Kanji as a learning tool, then, its demerits as a teaching tool are beyond redemption. Th is is probably for the best. To force the expectations of the textbook on the method would probably only end up frus- trating everyone—teachers and students. Th e saving grace of the books is that they are simply too fl ea-brained to run the circuit of “course work.” Letters from readers have combined expressions of gratitude with more 3 RK3 (UHP).indb 3 10/11/2007 8:27:27 AM

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