![]() ![]() The birth of the various Chinese dialects may have a similar origin. For example, the ancient Proto-Indo-European language, which is the common ancestor of the Indo-European languages, developed into the different languages that are now spoken in India and European countries. They say that when something like this happens, the languages spoken in the respective groups always take different turns in their development. Let us say that an ethnic group that speaks the same language is split up for some reason, and the two groups become isolated from each other. Professional translators and interpreters would obviously not make these mistakes, but it might be interesting to remember these examples as a topic of conversation. (I come from Abiko.) (I come from my grandchild.) Examples of Kanji that Have Different Meanings in Japanese and ChineseĪ few examples of basic kanji characters that mean different things in Japanese and Chinese are as follows. So, he writes, “我来自我孫子” to say “I come from Abiko.” Would that meaning come across or would they be surprised to learn this person came from his grandchild? However, when a native Chinese speaker looks at the three kanji and reads it in the Chinese pronunciation (wo sun zi), the words become a phrase that means, “my grandchild.” Let us suppose that a Japanese person familiar to a certain extent with Chinese writing knows that “自(Zi)” means “from”. I once heard a Chinese student studying in Japan say, “I live in a place with a strange name.” When I asked, “Where do you live?” the student responded, “Abiko.” Abiko, which is written 我孫子 in Japanese, is just another proper noun in Japan, the name of a place. 我孫子 (JA: Abiko CN: Wo Sun Zi) = Place-name? Therefore, much care must be taken when resorting to writing kanji to communicate with a Chinese-language speaker. What would happen if you wrote a succession of kanji, which look the same in Chinese, without being aware that they mean something different in Chinese? Not only would your meaning not get across, you may also bring about a misunderstanding. ![]() However, it is important to remember that 20-30% of the kanji used have different meanings in Japanese and Chinese. If you are trying to convey something simple, written communication might allow you to get by. Many Japanese people think when traveling to a Chinese-speaking region that even if they do not speak Chinese, they may be able to get by if they communicate by writing. Kanji that Look the Same but Don’t Necessarily Have the Same Meaning Although the number is much smaller in comparison, let’s take a look at those kanji that have different meanings in both languages. Although the number of kanji characters that are actually used is overwhelmingly larger in Chinese than in Japanese, about 70-80% of the characters used in both languages are used to express the same meaning. The Japanese and Chinese languages both use an extremely sophisticated writing system that uses kanji ideograms. Kanji Characters? A Writing System Shared by Japan and China This time, let us take a look at the relationship between written Chinese and Japanese. In the last issue, we discussed the difference between written and spoken Chinese. ![]() The Difference between Japanese and Chinese Characters ![]()
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