kanjimerkkien

Kanjimerkkien is a term that refers to the Japanese writing system known as kanji. Kanji are logographic characters adopted from Chinese, and they form a fundamental part of the Japanese writing system alongside hiragana and katakana. Each kanji character typically represents a word or a concept. Over time, the number of kanji used in modern Japanese has been standardized, with the Joyo kanji list containing 2,136 characters considered essential for general use.

The origin of kanji dates back to ancient China, and their introduction to Japan occurred around the 5th century CE. Initially, they were used to write Chinese texts, but gradually they were adapted to represent Japanese words. This adaptation led to the development of native Japanese readings for many kanji, in addition to their original Chinese-derived readings (on'yomi). The ability to read and write kanji is a significant part of literacy in Japan. Mastering kanji requires memorizing their visual forms, meanings, and multiple pronunciations. Different contexts and grammatical functions can determine which reading of a kanji is appropriate. The complexity and sheer number of kanji have made their study a lifelong endeavor for many Japanese speakers.