Will someone that can read Japanese Kanji answer this question?

Question

Which of these kanji mean dragon. 竜 or 龍. If they both mean dragon, why are there two kanji for the same meaning? I am getting one of them tattooed onto me, and I just wanna make sure that their isn't a meaning that I am missing, like one symbol means male dragon and the other female dragon or something like that. I have recently developed an interest into the Japanese language, and I also have a few questions about that. I am a bit confused when it comes to the two diffrent readings, ON and KUN. Is the reading, ON, only used in Japanese and Kun for reading chinese or are both readings used in reading of Japanese? If they are both used in the reading of Japanese, the language I am intersted in, how do you know which one to use? Finally, one last question about the readings. Say for example, I am wanting to use the kanji for dragon,竜, in the ON reading of that charecter, how do I know which romaji pronounciation I should use since there are three? They are ryū, ryō, rō.

Are the they able to be used interchangable? Like this one charecter in the cartoon Inu Yasha. He is a dragon and his name is Ryukotsusei. It is written in kanji like this, 竜骨精. Since there are three pronounciations for the first symbol, could I say his name these three ways, and be ok. Ryūkotsusei, Ryōkotsusei or Rōkotsusei. Thanks for your help, cause I hope someone can clear this up a bit for me.

Answer 1

竜 and 龍 both mean dragon, yes. Many Japanese kanji have the exact same meaning, but just look different. They do not mean male or female; just simply "dragon". It's just a matter of what is used more in Japanese. 竜 is used *much* more in Japanese while 龍 appears more often in Chinese. You can usually figure out a saying (or word's) popularity quickly and easily by going to Google. It's easy to see by the first two sites that pop up that 竜 is favored in Japan and 龍 in China.

Dragon is only pronounced ryū. ryō and rō are two completely different words (dormitory and old age respectively). Just because a kanji may have multiple ON or KUN readings doesn't mean you're alright to use whatever one you choose and be able to make sense. You have to choose the correct reading for the correct word you're trying to say. Otherwise, you'll just end up confusing others and yourself.
For example, 竜巻 is not "ryuumaki". That word would make no sense in Japanese. It uses another word for dragon (and pronounciation of 竜); tatsu making the word "tasumaki".

On and Kun readings are both used in Japanese. However, don't try to memorize them and kanji. Try to memorize the words the kanji makes and the pronunciation of that word. It will make your life so much easier.

Answer 2

Long time ago, Japanese borrowed Chinese character as kanji for its writing system, as you know. But the pronunciations of Japanese and Chinese are totally different. on and kun reading are used only in Japanese.

At that time, Chinese character = kanji had many strokes and was complicated. Recently both Japan and China decided to use simpler character that has fewer strokes than the old one. They are called simplified Chinese and new style kanji respectively. Unfortunately, they are different shapes since they changed them in their own way. Then they decided to call the old one traditional Chinese and old style kanji respectively. They are very much similar to each other because Japanese borrowed Chinese character as kanji long time ago, as I stated before.

"竜" is a new style kanji while "龍" is an old style kanji and also traditional Chinese . We usually use "竜" in daily life. But I think "龍" looks cool.

One kanji has many readings. Which reading do you have to read? It depends on what kanji or kana comes with it. You have to memorize them respectively. Yeah, it's a tough work.

Therefore, you can only say Ryūkotsusei for it.

Answer 3

竜 is a simplified version of 龍. Over time, a lot of kanji get simplified to make writing easier. If you look closely, you can see a lot of similarity between the two.

If you are getting a tattoo, I would recommend getting the original version: 龍

Answer 4

a million) ??????????????????? eiga no mae ni tabemashouka? Words: eiga - film mae - earlier than tabemashouka - we could consume? Particles: no - possesive ni - goal, time, situation two) ??????????????????????? watashi wa chotto onaka ga sukimashita. Words: watashi - I chotto - slightly onaka - belly sukimashita - emptied Particles: wa - matter marker ga - secondary matter marker three) ????????????????????? otto, eiga ni okure shimaimashita. Words: otto - oops eiga - film oku(ru) - to be past due shimaimashita - completed, unreversible Particles ni - goal, time, position four) ??????????????????????????? maa, soushitemo kyou wa tanoshikatta desu ne. Words: maa - Well soushitemo - in spite of this kyou - in these days tanoshikatta - used to be amusing desu - is Particles: wa - matter marker ne - wasn't/is not it? Hope this is helping <(^-*)^