More Kanji Logic

On to more "Kanji logic"...

Some kanjis are very similar. So incautious eyes may mistake one kanji for another. I wrote years ago about when I mistook 「和」 for 「知」. I have to concede that they may not look alike that much, though... hehe! But what about 「未」 (sheep of the Chinese Zodiac) and 「末」 (end, waning)? 「土」 (earth, soil) and 「士」 (man. Used in combinations as 武士/samurai and 紳士/gentleman)?

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Also, many words in Japanese sound the same or have slight differences in pronunciation. So, a classic mistake for foreigners is mistaking 「ビル」 ("biru"/building) and 「ビール」 ("biiru"/beer). 「雨」 ("ame"/rain) and 「飴」 ("ame"/candy). For the latter case, the difference is the syllabe that you emphasize - or if you enphasize any. It may vary with the region of Japan (in Kansai where I live it's different that in Kanto); and that's the reason why I haven't indicated where the emphasis should be. So, even Japanese people may face that problem, especially if they come from different parts of the country.

Some examples that happened to me recently were: 「引越し」 ("hikkoshi"/move, removal) for 「飛行士」 ("hikoushi"/aviator, navigator) when I was saying that I am about to move and someone thought that I became a pilot. Also 「星座」 ("seiza"/constellation) for 「正座」 ("seiza"/sit on one's heels) when we were trying to remember a Zodiac Sign and someone else thought it was a different position to sit.

Conclusion: it's very important to listen to conversations considering the context...

(Ok, it was not about kanji, but I thought I'd be a good thing to include.)

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Back to kanji, one that may surprise some is the kanji for swastika: 「卍」. That's because it may look like Hitler's swastika (therefore considered taboo in some regions), but it's actually a bit different. It's interesting that in this case, tha kanji is really what it means: the kanji for swastika is a swastika...

Also, this kanji is the way Buddhist temples' location are indicated in maps in Japan. So I wonder if no one ever thought that Nazis have dominated Japan after seeing those maps... heh! Actually, the reasons for that may come from the use of the swastika in Buhddism. More information here.

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When I first saw these two kanjis, I was wondering if they were really kanjis...

「凸」

「凹」

They look more like tetris blocks... hehe!

Anyway, 「凸」 ("totsu") means convex and 「凹」 ("ou") means concave. They also convey their meanings in themselves; and I still think they look like tetris blocks...

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Talking to a Japanese friend, he pointed another kanji with the character for "woman" that has a weird meaning. Knowing that 男 is the kanji for man and 女 is the kanji for woman, what would you think the following kanji means?

「嬲」

a) cheat (one's husband)
b) menage a trois
c) play cat and mouse with
d) bodyguard

The correct answer is (c). 嬲る is read "naburu" and it means "play cat and mouse game with (someone)", "make fun of (someone)", "torment", "tease"...

I actually found this kanji as well: 「嫐」. But I wasn't able to find out it's correct meaning. The only thing I've found is that that kanji has some relation with 悩む ("nayamu"/worry, suffer), which is interesting considering the disposition of the characters... haha!

Anyway, my guess is that kanji is on the list of "exotic kanji" that Japanese people may not know as well...