Question about Kanji.

[KhakiBlueSocks]

I just switched back to the normal CAA Skin (The dark gray and black one) and I noticed there were Japanese kanji characters along the left-hand side of the screen. What do they mean?

(Also, feedback on my updated signature would be greatly appreciated. )

[Mega.EXE]

I like the Mega 2.0 ^.^\

[Azier the Swordsman]

It's not Kanji. Basically, it's 'Christian Anime Alliance' written in katakana.

(kurisuchan anime araiansu)

Azier's Primer on the Japanese Writing System

Hiragana
Hiragana is the first simple writing system and can be used to write any Japanese word. (ONLY words of Japanese origin)

Katakana
The second writing system. Exact same number of characters and sounds as katakana. Basically a more simplistic writing system used to write words of foreign origin adopted into the Japanese sound system.

Kanji
Kanji consists entirely borrowed from Chinese. Basically, the Japanese tried to use the Chinese writing system a long time ago, but since Chinese and Japanese grammar are so drastically different, the Japanese had to invent Hiragana to basically fill in the blanks. Basically, you can write everything in kana only, but the literate Japanese speaking person will use Kanji wherever possible.

Kanji is used completely different than any other writing system. While hiragana and katakana each represent one syllable per character, Kanji represents concepts. Basically, each Kanji is read completely differently based on what context it's in. Meaning each Kanji can have any number of possible pronounciations. One Kanji may have 2 possible readings (most have at least two or three) while some have 10 or more.

Basically, the different readings are more like guidlines on how the character should be read, not how it will always be read. And there are exceptions where characters will have completely different pronounciations in certain circumstances which aren't listed in the official readings. In order to be literate in Japanese, 2,000 of these (known as the 'General Use' Kanji) must be memorized. (The average Japanese adult can read an additional 1,000)

It's not actually as hard as it sounds. It just takes a lot more work.

Examples:

Kana sentence. Katakana is bold.

こんにちは。おれはクリスです。よろしくおねがいします。

Kanji version of the same sentence.

今日は。俺はクリスです。よろしくお願いします。

(Trans: Hello. My name is Chris. Pleased to meet you.)

Kana sentence.

クリスチャンアニメアライアンスがだいすき。それはすごいね？

Kanji sentence.

クリスチャンアニメアライアンスが大好き。それは凄いね？

(Trans: I love CAA. It's awesome, isn't it?)

[Radical Dreamer]

Examples:

Kana sentence. Katakana is bold.

こ]クリス[/B]です。よろしくおねがいします。

(Trans: Hello. My name is Chris. Pleased to meet you.)

ASDF. I'm so proud of myself, I was acutally able to read that. XD The Japanese Katakana/Hiragana thing, that is...not the English sentence...Of course I could read that. *slips quietly out of the thread*

XD