I study some japanese but I am confussed about one thing, there are three writting systems right? Can you just get away using Hiragana? Or do I have to use the others, please help!
Thank you!
2006-09-05 11:54:15 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
Long time ago the Japanese had no written letters and they borrowed the characters from China, therefore they had Kanji. In the beginning there were probably many, many Kanji, but now only about 1800 are used. Since the grammars in the Chinese language and the Japanese language are very different, in the past, the Japanese written things that were in the form of Chinese characters had to be read back and forth -- it is like at sight translation. It is very complicated. Later on, smarter people simplified the Chinese characters and came up with hiragana. Writing now does not have to use the complicated Chinese letters, and reading does not require reading back and forth. Just read from the beginning towards the end -- as we do in other languages. But important words that are in Kanji are still in the form of Kanji so as to retain its originality or heritage or whatever we should call them. As for katakana, this is even more simplified in writing, and is used mainly for loan words. Therefore, different writing systems tell different stories. If only one writing system is shown in any written thing, I believe the feeling of its readers will become so "flat".
2006-09-05 15:14:59 · answer #1 · answered by Kanda 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No, you cannot just get away with hiragana. Hiragana in Japan is only used for a word that many do not know or is just too "special" to be in its kanji form, as well as particles.
Katakana you need to know for foreign words. How else do you expect to order at McDonalds if you can't determine which is a Big Mac and which is a Fish Fillet? Do you honestly want to write ã§ããããããã everytime you mean "computer" instead of ã³ã³ãã¥ã¼ã¿ or ãã½ã³ã³ï¼
Kanji is one of THE most important things to know in Japanese. If you don't want to learn kanji then, please, just quit now. The average Japanese is meant to know at least 1945 kanji characters and so must all foreigners! If you can't tell if æ±äº¬ or äº¬é½ is Tokyo, however do you think you'll survive?
Asking a question like this is like saying, "Do I have to know *all* the letters of the English alphabet? I mean, can't I just learn the first ten or so? 26 is just so much..."
2006-09-05 19:31:57 · answer #2 · answered by Belie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If you were to learn Japanese only in hiragana, you would be able to read things geared toward elementary school students, but that's about it. If you are really serious about studying Japanese, eventually it will be necessary to learn all three writing systems -- hiragana, katakana, and kanji are all mixed and matched freely in Japanese sentences, and each script has its different special functions and uses which the other scripts are not normally used for and (especially with kanji) possibly *cannot* be used for.
2006-09-06 18:30:49 · answer #3 · answered by leilah 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No idea what you are talking about. Pls let me know when you get the answer.
2006-09-05 19:04:59 · answer #4 · answered by muggle_puff 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋