Japanese Alphabets
Hacker, Randi
Hacker, Randi
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Abstract
Broadcast Transcript: The Japanese are adept at hiragana. Also katakana. No. They're not Samurai methods of ritual suicide. They're alphabets. And very specific alphabets at that. Hiragana is a set of 48 phonetic symbols, known as a syllabary, that is used exclusively for words of Japanese origin. It was originally just used by women because Chinese characters or kanji was the writing system favored by the educated man. Eventually, however, hiragana was adopted by both genders. Katakana, on the other hand, is a syllabary used almost exclusively for foreign words. It was developed by Buddhist monks as a sort of shorthand and, in fact, the 51 symbols are bits taken from the more complicated kanji. So if you decide to learn Japanese, go ahead and commit hiragana and katakana. To memory, that is. No sword necessary. #ceas #hacker #japan
Description
This is one of hundreds of 60-second radio spots created by the Center for East Asian Studies (CEAS) for Kansas Public Radio (KPR). The purpose of this outreach program is to introduce the people of Kansas to the culture and current issues of East Asia.
Date
2012-02-22
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Publisher
Center for East Asian Studies, University of Kansas
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Keywords
Japan, Hiragana, Katakana, Kanji, Samurai, Ritual Suicide