The four types of kanji are pictographs, indicators, combographs (or compound characters), and meaning-and-sound borrowers (also known as shape-and-sound borrowers).
Breakdown of Kanji Types:
Understanding the different categories of kanji helps to appreciate the evolution and structure of the Japanese writing system.
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Pictographs (象形文字 - shōkeimoji): These are the oldest type of kanji, directly representing the objects they depict. They are stylized drawings of real-world things. Only a small percentage of kanji are purely pictographic.
- Example: 山 (yama) meaning "mountain." The character visually resembles a mountain.
- Estimated Percentage: 3-4%
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Indicators (指事文字 - shijimoji): These kanji represent abstract concepts through symbolic shapes and positions. They are often created by adding marks to pictographs to indicate a specific meaning.
- Example: 上 (ue) meaning "up" - A line above another line indicates the concept of above. 下 (shita) meaning "down" - A line below another line indicates the concept of below.
- Estimated Percentage: 1%
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Combographs (会意文字 - kaiimoji) / Compound Characters: These kanji combine two or more pictographic or ideographic components to create a new meaning. The meaning is derived from the combination of the meanings of its components.
- Example: 休 (yasumu) meaning "rest." It combines 人 (hito - person) and 木 (ki - tree). The idea is that a person resting by a tree evokes the concept of "rest."
- Estimated Percentage: 5-6%
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Meaning-and-Sound Borrowers (形声文字 - keiseimoji) / Shape-and-Sound Borrowers: This is the most common type of kanji. They combine a semantic element (indicating the meaning) and a phonetic element (indicating the pronunciation). This allows for the creation of new kanji with relative ease.
- Example: 海 (umi) meaning "sea." It combines the semantic component 氵(water radical) and the phonetic component 每 (mai). The 氵indicates that the character is related to water, while 每 hints at the pronunciation.
- Estimated Percentage: 90%
