Sino-Japanese vocabulary , also known as kango ( Japanese : 漢語 , pronounced [kaŋɡo] , " Han words") , is a subset of Japanese vocabulary that originated in Chinese or was created from elements borrowed from Chinese. Some grammatical structures and sentence patterns can also be identified as Sino-Japanese.
96-701: Kofun ( 古墳 , from Sino-Japanese "ancient burial mound") are megalithic tombs or tumuli in Northeast Asia . Kofun were mainly constructed in the Japanese archipelago between the middle of the 3rd century to the early 7th century AD. The term is the origin of the name of the Kofun period , which indicates the middle 3rd century to early–middle 6th century. Many kofun have distinctive keyhole-shaped mounds ( zempō-kōen fun ( 前方後円墳 ) ). The Mozu - Furuichi kofungun or tumulus clusters were inscribed on
192-670: A circular-type kofun [ ja ] . Famous examples include Hokenoyama Kofun in the Makimuku ruins , dated to around 250 AD, and Nyotaizan Kofun . Octagonal Kofun [ ja ] ( 八角墳 , hakkaku-fun ) are a very rare kind of kofun characteristic of Emperors. Many Japanese Emperors were buried in them including Empress Kōgyoku in Kengoshizuka Kofun , Emperor Tenji in his Mausoleum , and Emperor Jomei in Dannozuka Kofun From
288-589: A Tō-on reading for each kanji as many do for Go-on and Kan-on readings. Go-on and Kan-on readings have a special status when compared with other on'yomi types. Arising initially out of the need to be able to read any Chinese text aloud using ondoku , there is a long-standing practice of providing a Go and Kan reading for every kanji, even those which have never actually been used in borrowed Sino-Japanese vocabulary. The readings which are not actually encountered in Sino-Japanese loanwords were largely codified in
384-415: A circular one. They tend to be smaller than Zenpokoenfun . Yanaida Nunōyama Kofun is one of the largest of the type. There is a specific style exemplified by Yadani Kofun and Jinyama Tumulus Cluster and Rokuji Kozuka Kofun and Tomisaki Kofungun of Ōzuka-Senbōyama Sites as yosumi-tosshutsugata ( 四隅突出形 ) , which is square or rectangular, with protrusions on each of its four corners; however, it
480-482: A different regular outcome for the Japanese on'yomi . For the purposes of determining the Japanese on'yomi , the following sets of consonants can be distinguished: Developments after the Japanese consonants /r/ (from MC /l/) and /n/ (from MC /n, ɳ, ɲ/) are noted where relevant. The MC onset /y/ (like all palatal onsets) appears only with MC rimes beginning in /j/, and generally patterns in on'yomi with MC /ʔ/ before
576-684: A few examples: Notably, the names of the military ranks used throughout the Sinosphere were neither coined anew nor repurposed from Classical Chinese, but were based on the ranks under the Ritsuryō government. Certain military agencies, such as the Konoefu ( 近衛府 ) , the Hyōefu ( 兵衛府 ) and the Emonfu ( 衛門府 ) , were headed by officials titled with shō ( 将 ) , sa ( 佐 ) and i ( 尉 ) (see
672-428: A guarantee that the word is native to Japanese. There are a few Japanese words that, although they appear to have originated in borrowings from Chinese, have such a long history in the Japanese language that they are regarded as native and are thus treated as kun'yomi, e.g., 馬 uma "horse" and 梅 ume . These words are not regarded as belonging to the Sino-Japanese vocabulary. While much Sino-Japanese vocabulary
768-576: A kind of kofun dug as artificial caves in Ancient Japan . This list includes the "Mozu-Furuichi Kofun Group: Mounded Tombs of Ancient Japan," which was inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site on 6 July 2019. Sino-Japanese vocabulary Kango is one of three broad categories into which the Japanese vocabulary is divided. The others are native Japanese vocabulary ( yamato kotoba ) and borrowings from other, mainly Western languages ( gairaigo ). It has been estimated that about 60% of
864-419: A labial glide were for the most part borrowed as diphthongs in Japanese. These later monophthongized as long vowels, such that these MC rimes mostly correspond to modern Japanese ō , yō , ū , or yū . MC coda /m/ was originally written in Japanese with the man'yōgana 无 , which came to stand for the nasal special mora /N/. The manyō'gana 无 developed into the hiragana ん used to represent /N/. It
960-722: A long coastline along the Japan Sea that dramatically sweeps south to the Chūgoku Mountains along the length of the region. The area is primarily mountainous with few plains. While the climate of the San'in region is not as harsh as that of the Hokuriku region to the north, winters are characterized by heavy snow and rainfall typical of areas on the Japan Sea. The San'in subregion is a subregion of Chūgoku region that composes of
1056-424: A round mound and lacks the square segment. {{Ill| Square kofun (方墳, hōfun) are a kind of kofun that possesses only a square mound and lacks the round segment. They are typically relatively smaller than the other shapes of mounded tombs. Scallop Kofun [ ja ] is a kind of kofun defined by a circular body with a small part extending. This can make it an interrmediate between a Keyhole-shaped kofun and
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#17327654791541152-417: A voiceless obstruent /h~p, t, s, k/ in the same word, the epenthetic vowel does not appear, and the /t/ functions as the obstruent special mora /Q/, forming a geminate with the following obstruent. For example, 日 /niti/ 'day' appears as /niQ/ in the word 日記 /niQ.ki/ [nikki] 'diary'. MC coda /k/ was borrowed as Japanese /k/ with a following epenthetic /i/ (after /e/) or /u/ (after /a, o, u/). After /i/,
1248-454: A voiceless obstruent. A common irregularity for Kan'yō-on is an unexpected voicing value for an initial obstruent. For example, 斬 (MC tʂɛm ) is read in all Sino-Japanese words as /zaN/ rather than the expected Kan-on reading /saN/. Tō-on/Sō-on ( 唐音 "Tang sound" or 宋音 "Song sound") readings were introduced mostly from the 12th century onward, during and after the Song dynasty . "Tang"
1344-544: Is Daisen Kofun in Sakai City, Osaka Prefecture . The funeral chamber was located beneath the round part and comprised a group of megaliths. In 1972, the unlooted Takamatsuzuka Tomb was found in Asuka , and some details of the discovery were revealed. Inside the tightly assembled rocks, white lime plasters were pasted, and colored pictures depict the 'Asuka Beauties' of the court as well as constellations. A stone coffin
1440-470: Is an uncommon term for 'softball', which itself is normally ソフトボール sofutobōru ). Finally, quite a few words appear to be Sino-Japanese but are varied in origin, written with ateji ( 当て字 ) — kanji assigned without regard for etymology. In many cases, the characters were chosen only to indicate pronunciation. For example, sewa ('care, concern') is written 世話 , using the on'yomi "se" + "wa" ('household/society' + 'talk'); although this word
1536-458: Is far from the industrial and cultural heartlands of Japan, and the region is consequently economically undeveloped compared to the other regions of Japan. The landscape remains rural and unindustrialized, and the urban areas of the region are decentralized. Tottori and Shimane are the least populated prefectures in Japan, and the population is aging at a rate faster than the rest of Japan. Cities in
1632-591: Is generally assumed to be evidence of the Yamato court's expansion in this age. However, some argue that it simply shows the spread of culture based on progress in distribution, and has little to do with a political breakthrough. A few tombs from the mid-Baekje era were excavated around the Yeongsan River basin in South Korea. The design of these tombs are notably different. The tombs that were discovered on
1728-652: Is most prevalent in western Japan in areas influenced by the Izumo culture . Joenkahofun [ ja ] ( 上円下方墳 ) is a rare kind of kofun with a round dome top and a square bottom. They are associated with the Asuka Period . Musashi Fuchū Kumano Jinja Kofun in Fuchū in Tokyo and Miyazuka Kofun are two notable examples. Corridor-type kofun [ ja ] ( 横穴式石室 , yokoana-shiki sekishitsu ) are
1824-439: Is not Sino-Japanese but a native Japanese word believed to derive from sewashii , meaning 'busy' or 'troublesome'; the written form 世話 is simply an attempt to assign plausible-looking characters pronounced "se" and "wa". Other ateji of this type include 面倒 mendō ('face' + 'fall down' = 'bother, trouble') and 野暮 yabo ('fields' + 'livelihood' = 'uncouth'). (The first gloss after each character roughly translates
1920-602: Is not specified. For example, in the Mozu kofun group, in Sakai, several of the circular parts are facing north, while other face east. However, there is no such formation in the Yanagimoto kofun group. Haniwa , terracotta figures, were arrayed above and in the surroundings to delimit and protect the sacred areas. Kofun range from several metres to over 400 m long. The largest, which has been attributed to Emperor Nintoku ,
2016-529: Is one of the most ancient and important Shinto shrines in Japan . The eastern part of Shimane Prefecture also had cultural and economic connections to the Asian mainland from an early period. The San'in region corresponds to San'indō ( 山陰道 ) , one of the gokishichidō , or five provinces and seven circuits established in the Asuka period (538–710) under the Ritsuryō legal system. San'indō refers not only to
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#17327654791542112-412: Is overwhelmingly common in Sino-Japanese vocabulary. The MC coda /t/ was borrowed as Japanese /t/. Characters ending in this consonant were at first consistently pronounced with no epenthetic vowel, with the kana つ serving double duty to represent /t/ and /tu/. Note that these readings are identical to the readings for MC /n/-final rimes, but with つ/ち in place of ん. Later, an epenthetic vowel /u/ or /i/
2208-651: Is possible that 无 originally represented two distinct sounds, moraic /m/ and moraic /n/ (from MC coda /n/, see below), but they may have been pronounced identically in Sino-Japanese vocabulary from the start. Regardless, 无 would not have stood for /mu/ in these words (the Go-on reading), just as the precursors of hiragana つ represented /t/ and not /tu/ when adapting the MC coda /t/ (see below). Native /mu/ from this time ( man'yōgana 牟 or 武 , among others) remains /mu/, developing to /N/ only under very specific circumstances, while
2304-542: Is represented in these tables. Exceptional pronunciations are often found even for officially recognized Go and Kan readings. Furthermore, many kanji have Kan'yō-on readings, which by definition do not follow the regular correspondences, but appear in established Sino-Japanese words. The illusion of regularity is bolstered by the fact that lexicographers generally provide Go and Kan readings for characters based on their expected outcome, even when these readings are not actually employed in any Japanese word. Out of necessity, many of
2400-512: Is the two prefectures of Shimane and Tottori . The name San'in in the Japanese language is formed from two kanji characters. The first, 山 , "mountain", and the second, 陰 represents the "yin" of yin and yang . The name means the northern, shady side of the mountains in contrast to the yang "southern, sunny" San'yō region to the south. The San'in region has numerous Paleolithic and Jōmon period (14,000 – 300 BC) remains, but its Yayoi period (300 BC – 250 AD) remains are
2496-406: Is unique in that it is not a true rectangle, but has a narrow waist, similar to a "two conjoined rectangles" type ( zenpō-kōhō-fun [ ja ] ( 前方後方墳 ) ). The slope of the mound is covered with fukiishi -like stones, with a row of larger stones marking its edge, and is surrounded by a two-meter wide moat. The yosumi-tosshutsugata style is unique to the late middle Yayoi period and
2592-775: Is very often possible to correctly guess the etymological origin of a word based solely on its shape. At first glance, the on'yomi of many Sino-Japanese words do not resemble the Modern Standard Chinese pronunciations at all. Firstly, the borrowings occurred in three main waves, with the resulting sounds identified as Go-on ( 呉音 ) , Kan-on ( 漢音 ) , and Tō-on ( 唐音 ) ; these were at different periods over several centuries, from different stages in Historical Chinese phonology , and thus source pronunciations differ substantially depending on time and place. Beyond this, there are two main reasons for
2688-436: The dakuten used to mark prenasalized obstruents. These glides then denasalized, and the resulting diphthongs later monophthongized as long vowels. As such, almost all characters with the MC coda /ŋ/ end in ō , yō , ē , ū , or yū in modern Japanese on'yomi . MC coda /p/ was borrowed as Japanese /pu/ (likely pronounced as [βu] after a vowel at the time of borrowing ). Note that these original readings are identical to
2784-463: The Edo period through the philological study of Chinese rime tables . These readings are given in many dictionaries, though for the less common kanji there is sometimes disagreement between sources. All characters used to write Middle Chinese represented a single syllable in the spoken language, made up of an "initial" (a single onset consonant), and a rime (the remainder of the syllable). Originally,
2880-839: The UNESCO World Heritage List in 2019, while Ishibutai Kofun is one of a number in Asuka-Fujiwara residing on the Tentative List . The kofun tumuli have assumed various shapes throughout history. The most common type of kofun is known as a zenpō-kōen-fun ( 前方後円墳 ) , which is shaped like a keyhole, having one square end and one circular end, when viewed from above. There are also circular-type ( empun [ ja ] ( 円墳 ) ), "two conjoined rectangles" typed ( zenpō-kōhō-fun [ ja ] ( 前方後方墳 ) ), and square-type ( hōfun [ ja ] ( 方墳 ) ) kofun. Orientation of kofun
2976-592: The on'yomi for kanji attempted to closely match the Middle Chinese pronunciation for each character, while guided by the possible sounds and structures of Japanese as spoken at the time. In fact a number of new word shapes entered the language to accommodate the large influx of Chinese borrowings. Subsequently, many sound changes took place in Japanese, affecting both borrowed and native vocabulary. As such, on'yomi now often bear little resemblance to their original Middle Chinese source, and are even less similar to
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3072-486: The Go reading yaku , while 央 (MC ʔjaŋ ) has the jōyō Go reading ō , with yō listed as an alternate (but unused) Go reading. The tables below show the regular correspondences between MC rimes and Japanese on'yomi (Go and Kan readings). The rimes are given in the transcription systems of Bernhard Karlgren , Li Rong , and William Baxter (see Middle Chinese finals for more transcription systems). Examples are given using
3168-664: The Japanese article, 四等官 ), which later corresponded to "general officer", "senior officer" and "junior officer" in the Imperial Japanese Armed Forces and adopted by other militaries in China, Korea and Vietnam. See the articles for these ranks for more ( Ranks of the Imperial Japanese Army , Comparative military ranks of Korea , Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Ground Force , Ranks of
3264-472: The Korean peninsula were built between the 5th and 6th centuries CE. There remain questions about who were buried in these tombs such as nobility, aristocracy, warriors or mercenaries. Keyhole-shaped kofun disappeared in the late 6th century AD, probably due to the drastic reformation in the Yamato court. Nihon Shoki records the introduction of Buddhism during this era, which led to cremation becoming
3360-462: The Korean peninsula, and it is unclear to what extent this fact influenced the Go-on pronunciations. Certain genres of modern vocabulary largely use Go-on readings, especially words related to Buddhism and law. Kan-on ( 漢音 "Han sound") readings were introduced in the 7th through 9th centuries during the Tang dynasty , and are based on the central Chang'an pronunciation of Middle Chinese. While there
3456-562: The MC coda /p/ have Go and Kan readings ending in ō , yō or yū in modern Japanese. Originally, borrowed coda /p/ functioned just like coda /t, k/ (see below) in that the "epenthetic" vowel /u/ did not appear before a voiceless obstruent /h~p, t, s, k/ in the same word, resulting in readings with the obstruent special mora /Q/ in place of /pu/. This phenomenon can still be seen in a number of Japanese words, for example 十 /zipu/ > /zyū/ 'ten' vs. 十歳 /ziQ.sai/ [dʑissai] 'ten years old' (now usually /zyuQ.sai/ [dʑɯssai]). For 拉 (MC lop ),
3552-410: The MC reconstructions from Karlgren's Grammata Serica Recensa (GSR), with the rimes transcribed using Baxter's system (see Character List for Karlgren's GSR ). Japanese on'yomi are given in a phonemic transcription (see Japanese phonology ). Different MC rimes were restricted to following only certain MC initial consonants. Furthermore, the identity of the initial consonant sometimes results in
3648-532: The MC vowels is debated, and the set of vowels possible before different coda consonants varies considerably. When borrowed into Japanese, the more complicated MC vowel system was adapted to fit the Japanese five vowel system with /i, e, a, o, u/. MC rimes could begin with a glide /w/, /j/, or both /jw/. The earliest Japanese on'yomi allow the following sequences containing glides: All of the /Cy/ and /Cw(y)/ sequences were newly introduced by borrowing from Chinese, though some would later arise in native vocabulary. By
3744-579: The Nara Basin. Hashihaka Kofun , which was built in the middle of the 3rd century AD, is 280 metres long and 30 metres high. Its scale is obviously different from previous Yayoi tombs. During the next three decades, about 10 kofun were built in the area. They are now known as the Makimuku Kofun Group . A wooden coffin was placed on the bottom of a shaft, and the surrounding walls were built up by flat stones. Finally, megalithic stones formed
3840-513: The People's Liberation Army Navy , Ranks of the People's Liberation Army Air Force , Republic of China Armed Forces rank insignia , Vietnamese military ranks and insignia ). Despite resistance from some contemporary Chinese intellectuals, many wasei kango were "back-borrowed" into Chinese around the turn of the 20th century. Such words from that time are thoroughly assimilated into the Chinese lexicon, but translations of foreign concepts between
3936-411: The Sinosphere had no exact analogue of on account of partitioning the semantic fields in question differently, such as 科学 kagaku ('science'), 社会 shakai ('society'), and 哲学 tetsugaku ('philosophy'). While many terms were coined afresh (such as 科学 and 哲学 ), many were repurposed classical Chinese compounds, whose meanings were tenuously similar to their western counterparts. Here are
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4032-425: The advent of the "historical kana" spellings (13th century, lasting until 1946 ), the "ancient" kana sequences with /CwyV/ had long before lost their /w/, those with /Cwi/ had become /Cui, ki, gi/, and /ye/ merged with /e/. Later, /w/ was lost everywhere except in the sequence /wa/ with no preceding consonant. The presence of these glides in on'yomi is in some cases not easily predictable, for example 約 (MC ʔjak ) has
4128-533: The ancient geographic region, but also the main road through the region that connected it to the capitol in Kyoto. The San'in encompassed the pre-Meiji provincial areas of Tanba , Tango , Tajima , Inaba , Hōki , Izumo , Iwami and Oki . While the San'indō route was used for military logistics in numerous conflicts after the Asuka period, it more importantly served as a route for the transport of good to and from
4224-653: The best-known example is the prolific numbers of kango coined during the Meiji era on the model of Classical Chinese to translate modern concepts imported from the West; when coined to translate a foreign term (rather than simply a new Japanese term), they are known as yakugo ( 訳語 , translated word, equivalent) . Often they use corresponding morphemes to the original term, and thus qualify as calques . These terms include words for new technology, like 電話 denwa ('telephone'), and words for Western cultural categories which
4320-413: The borrowed moraic /m/ always develops to /N/. MC coda /n/ was adapted in Japanese as the nasal special mora /N/. MC coda /ŋ/ was borrowed as a single Japanese phoneme which was realized as two nasalized offglides: [ĩ] after /e/, and [ũ] after /u, o, a/. The nasality of these glides was generally not represented in writing, but in some cases was indicated with the same diacritic mark that would become
4416-436: The changes from the earlier Go to the later Kan pronunciations. These borrowings were drawn both from different times and different regions of China, and furthermore the Go pronunciations were likely intermediated through Korean Buddhist monks. However, there is little to support the claim that Go-on pronunciations were at the time of their introduction "less accurate" than their later Kan-on counterparts. The discrepancies between
4512-402: The character 腺 ("gland") has the on'yomi sen (from the on'yomi of its phonetic component, 泉 sen "spring, fountain"), e.g. in 扁桃腺 hentōsen "tonsils"; it was intentionally created as a kango and does not have a kun'yomi at all. Although not originating in Chinese, both of these are regarded as 'Sino-Japanese'. By the same token, that a word is the kun'yomi of a kanji is not
4608-637: The development of both long vowels and long consonants . (See Early Middle Japanese: Phonological developments for details.) Sino-Japanese words are almost exclusively nouns, of which many are verbal nouns or adjectival nouns, meaning that they can act as verbs or adjectives. Verbal nouns can be used as verbs by appending suru ( する , "do") (e.g. benkyō suru ( 勉強する , do studying; study) ), while an adjectival noun uses -na ( 〜な ) instead of -no ( 〜の ) (usual for nouns) when acting attributively. In Japanese, verbs and adjectives (that is, inflecting adjectives) are closed classes , and despite
4704-458: The distinction between on'yomi and kun'yomi does not correspond to etymological origin. Chinese characters created in Japan, called kokuji ( 国字 ) , normally only have kun'yomi, but some kokuji do have on'yomi. One such character is 働 (as in 働く hataraku , "to work"), which was given the on'yomi dō (from the on'yomi of its phonetic component , 動 ) when used in compounds with other characters, e.g. in 労働 rōdō ("labor"). Similarly,
4800-402: The divergence between Modern Standard Chinese and Modern Standard Japanese pronunciations of cognate terms: Nonetheless, the correspondences between the two are fairly regular. As a result, Sino-Japanese can be viewed as a (transformed) "snapshot" of an archaic period of the Chinese language, and as a result is very important for comparative linguists as it provides a large amount of evidence for
4896-409: The end of the 6th century to the beginning of the 7th, the tumuli of the monarchs changed from square hōfun tumuli [ ja ] to octagonal hakkaku-fun [ ja ] tumuli. zenpō-kōhō-fun [ ja ] ( 前方後方墳 , two conjoined rectangles kofun) is a kind of kofun shaped somewhat like the more keyhole shaped Zenpokoenfun , but they have a square body rather than
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#17327654791544992-409: The epenthetic vowel (/iki/ vs. /iku/) depends on the original Middle Chinese vowel. The readings for MC /k/-final rimes are very similar to the original readings for MC /ŋ/-final rimes with く/き in place of nasalized う/い, but in this case there are some differences. Just like with coda /t/, the epenthetic vowel is absent before a voiceless obstruent /h~p, t, s, k/ in the same word, and the /k/ functions as
5088-402: The examples shown below are of this type. Readings in the jōyō kanji list are highlighted in blue. These MC rimes have no consonant after the vowel. These MC rimes are analyzed as having a palatal glide after the vowel, though not all of the rimes end in a phonetic [j] in all MC transcription systems. These mostly end up as Japanese ai , e , ē , i , or ui . The MC rimes ending in
5184-488: The expected Kan reading /rapu > rō/ is not found in Sino-Japanese vocabulary, but only /raQ/ as in 拉致 /raQ.ti/ [ɾattɕi] 'abduction' (shortened in most words to /ra/). However, for many characters, the vowel-final readings have been extended to all environments. In some cases, the reading with /Q/ led to the analogical creation of a /tu/-final reading. Notably, for 立 (MC lip ) the Kan'yō-on reading /ritu/ (from regular /riQ/)
5280-408: The fact that most MC syllables had a coda, most Japanese on'yomi are bimoraic, containing either two syllables, a long vowel, or the moraic nasal /N/. These last two structures are extremely common in Sino-Japanese roots, but somewhat rare in native Japanese vocabulary. For these and other reasons, the phonological patterns of Sino-Japanese words and native Japanese words are markedly different, and it
5376-521: The given MC rime after the given onsets. When (~) appears, it indicates that an MC character exists which is expected to provide a relevant Japanese on'yomi , but it either has no identified reading, has on'yomi which are not clearly distinguished as Go vs. Kan, or has multiple MC pronunciations which make it impossible to determine which MC rime the on'yomi correspond to. While the correspondences between MC rimes and Japanese on'yomi are rather consistent, there exists considerably more irregularity than
5472-436: The kanji; the second is the meaning of the word in Japanese.) On'yomi were originally used in ondoku ( 音読 "sound reading"), the Japanese system for reading aloud texts in the Middle Chinese (MC) language. A huge number of loanwords entered the Japanese language from Middle Chinese, intermediated by these conventionalized pronunciations. There are different types of on'yomi for Sino-Japanese vocabulary, depending mainly on
5568-406: The language of science, learning, religion and government. The earliest written language to be used in Japan was literary Chinese , which has come to be called kanbun in this context. The kanbun writing system essentially required every literate Japanese to be competent in written Chinese, although it is unlikely that many Japanese people were then fluent in spoken Chinese. Chinese pronunciation
5664-425: The large number of borrowings from Chinese, virtually none of these became inflecting verbs or adjectives, instead being conjugated periphrastically as above. In addition to the basic verbal noun + suru form, verbal nouns with a single-character root often experienced sound changes, such as -suru ( 〜する ) → -zuru ( 〜ずる ) → -jiru ( 〜じる ) , as in kinjiru ( 禁じる , forbid) , and some cases where
5760-635: The largest in Japan. The Mukibanda Yayoi remains in the low foothills of Mount Daisen in the cities of Daisen and Yonago , Tottori Prefecture are the largest in Japan. The site is still only partially excavated, but indicates that the San'in was a regional center of power in the period. The mythology of the Shinto religion is largely based in the Izumo area of the region, and the Izumo-taisha , or Izumo Grand Shrine in Izumo , Shimane Prefecture ,
5856-516: The modern Greek language , which took back words like τηλεγράφημα telegrafíma ('telegram') that were coined in English from Greek roots. Many of these words have also been borrowed into Korean and Vietnamese , forming (a modern Japanese) part of their Sino-Korean and Sino-Vietnamese vocabularies. Alongside these translated terms, the foreign word may be directly borrowed as gairaigo. The resulting synonyms have varying use, usually with one or
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#17327654791545952-569: The most of all prefectures (16,577 sites), and Chiba Prefecture has the second most (13,112 sites). Most of the tombs of chiefs in the Yayoi period were square-shaped mounds surrounded by ditches. The most notable example in the late Yayoi period is Tatetsuki Mound Tomb in Kurashiki, Okayama . The mound is about 45 metres wide and 5 metres high and has a shaft chamber. Broken pieces of Tokushu-kidai , cylindrical earthenware, were excavated around
6048-560: The mound. Another prevalent type of Yayoi period tomb is the Yosumi tosshutsugata funkyūbo , a square mound with protruding corners. These tombs were built in the San'in region , a coastal area off the Sea of Japan. Unearthed articles indicate the existence of alliances between native tribes in the region. One of the first keyhole-shaped kofun was built in the Makimuku area, the southeastern part of
6144-612: The native languages of their respective nations. Such words invented in Japanese, often with novel meanings, are called wasei-kango . Many of them were created during the Meiji Restoration to translate non-Asian concepts and have been reborrowed into Chinese. Kango is also to be distinguished from gairaigo of Chinese origin, namely words borrowed from modern Chinese dialects, some of which may be occasionally spelled with Chinese characters or kanji just like kango . For example, 北京 ( Pekin , " Beijing ") which
6240-425: The number of kanji with each possible jōyō on'yomi (not distinguishing between Go, Kan, Tō, and Kan'yō, and not including readings considered restricted or rare). A zero represents a reading which is attested in Sino-Japanese vocabulary, but uses a non- jōyō reading. Readings which are listed in dictionaries but which are merely hypothesized and do not appear in attested Japanese words are not considered. Due to
6336-530: The obstruent special mora /Q/. For example, 学 /gaku/ 'study' appears as /gaQ/ in the word 学校 /gaQ.kō/ [gakkō] 'school'. All MC roots were a single syllable, and due to the restrictions on possible MC syllable shapes, a limited set of readings ( on'yomi ) are possible for borrowed Sino-Japanese roots. Furthermore, due in large part to the many distinct MC sounds which were merged when borrowed into Japanese, some readings are extremely common across different kanji, while others are very rare. The below table gives
6432-423: The other being more common. For example, 野球 yakyū and ベースボール bēsubōru both translate as 'baseball', where the yakugo 野球 is more common. By contrast, 庭球 teikyū and テニス tenisu both translate as 'tennis', where the gairaigo テニス is more common. Note that neither of these is a calque – they translate literally as 'field ball' and 'garden ball'. ('Base' is 塁 rui , but 塁球 ruikyū
6528-634: The preeminent position that Greek and Latin had in European history. For example, the Middle Chinese word for gunpowder, Chinese : 火藥 ( IPA: [xwa˧˥jak] ), is rendered as hwayak in Korean, and as kayaku in Japanese. At the time of their first contact, the existing Japanese language had no writing system, while the Chinese had a written language and a great deal of academic and scientific information, providing new concepts along with Chinese words to express them. Chinese became
6624-633: The prefectures of Shimane , Tottori and northern area of Yamaguchi . The northern areas of Hyōgo and Kyōto prefectures are sometimes included in the region as well. Japan Route 9 , the San'in Expressway , and the JR West San'in Main Line follow the historical route of the San'indō, and remnants of the shukuba , some well preserved, remain throughout the region. The San'in Region has
6720-417: The prefectures of Shimane, Tottori, and sometimes the northern portion of Yamaguchi Prefecture. The northern portion of Yamaguchi Prefecture composes of Abu , Hagi , and Nagato . The San'yo subregion is composed of the prefectures of Hiroshima, Okayama, and Yamaguchi in its entirety. Per Japanese census data, and, San'in subregion has had continual negative population growth since 1992. The San'in region
6816-411: The primary funerary means of the nobility. Keyhole Kofun, or Zenpokoenfun , are a notable type of Japanese ancient tomb consisting of a square front part ( 前方部 ) and a circular back part ( 後円部 ). The part connecting the two is called the middle part ( くびれ部 ), which looks like a keyhole when viewed from above. Round Kofun [ ja ] (円墳, enpun ) are a kind of kofun that possesses only
6912-454: The pronunciation of the same characters in modern Chinese languages, which have undergone many changes from Middle Chinese. For example, 兄 (MC xjwæŋ ) had the Go-on pronunciation [kwjaũ] when it was first borrowed, which subsequently developed to [kjaũ], then [kjau], then [kjɔː], and finally modern Japanese /kyō/ [kjoː]. The Early Middle Chinese (EMC) initials have the following regular correspondences in Go and Kan on'yomi . Aspiration
7008-464: The readings for MC /m/-final rimes, but with ふ in place of ん. The phoneme /p/ eventually lenited to /h/ word-initially, but was lost between vowels (except Vpa > Vwa). The result was that all /pu/-final readings developed /Vu/ sequences, which later monophthongized. This same change is seen in native vocabulary, as in OJ ke 1 pu > ModJ kyō 'today'. As a result of this development, all characters with
7104-558: The reconstruction of Middle Chinese. The following is a rough guide to equivalencies between modern Chinese words and modern Sino-Japanese on'yomi readings. San%27in region The San'in Region ( 山陰地方 , San'in Chihō ) is an area in the southwest of Honshū , the main island of Japan . It consists of the northern part of the Chūgoku region , facing the Sea of Japan . Specifically, it
7200-491: The region with a population of over 100,000 remain only the prefectural capitols of Tottori and Matsue , the more recently industrialized Yonago , and Izumo , a city formed from numerous smaller cities and villages after World War II . The agricultural output of the San'in region, however, remains very high. Its broad coastal and mountainous areas are protected as national, prefectural, and municipal parks, and these areas are now popular tourist destinations. The San'in region
7296-454: The region. The route reached its highest period of importance in the Edo period (1603–1867) when the Tokugawa shogunate formalized its route and shukuba post stations. The daimyō regional rulers used the San'indō for their sankin-kōtai mandatory journeys to Edo (modern Tokyo). The San'in region now has no administrative authority. In modern Japanese usage it generally refers to
7392-422: The regular patterns for adapting either Go-on or Kan-on readings, but are commonly encountered in existing Sino-Japanese words. In some cases, the Kan'yō-on reading is in fact a regular development of the original Go or Kan on'yomi in a particular environment. For example, 拉 (MC lop ) has the Kan'yō-on reading /raQ/ (or /ra/) in all Sino-Japanese words, which is the regular development of earlier /rap(u)/ before
7488-506: The roof. Bronze mirrors , iron swords, magatama , clay vessels and other artifacts were found in good condition in undisturbed tombs. Some scholars assume that the person buried in the Hashihaka kofun was the shadowy ancient Queen Himiko of Yamataikoku , mentioned in Chinese historical texts. According to these texts, Japan was called Wa , and was a confederation of numerous small tribes or countries. The construction of gigantic kofun
7584-450: The same character, though in practice those with /tu/ are much more common. For example, 滅 has the Go readings /meti/ and /metu/, but only /metu/ is recognized as the jōyō reading, and this is the only Go reading found in existing Japanese words. In fact only nine characters have jōyō readings with /(C)Vti/, though these include the common characters 一 /iti/ 'one', 七 /siti/ 'seven', 八 /hati/ 'eight', and 日 /niti/ 'day'. Before
7680-404: The same combinations of characters are often meaningless or have a different meaning. Even a humble expression like gohan ( ご飯 or 御飯 'cooked rice') is a pseudo- kango and not found in Chinese. One interesting example that gives itself away as a Japanese coinage is kaisatsu-guchi ( 改札口 literally 'check ticket gate'), meaning the ticket barrier at a railway station. More recently,
7776-437: The same rimes, but sometimes there is a distinction, where /y/ patterns with S. Where one of these five categories (P, T, S, K, Ø) appears in parentheses in the tables below, it refers to the adaptation of the MC rime after these different sets of consonants. Five columns in each table mark whether the given MC rime is found after each of these onset categories. A bullet (•) indicates that Go and Kan on'yomi exist corresponding to
7872-427: The special moras /N/ and /Q/, and as such all /h/-initial on'yomi have regular variants with /p/ in this environment, for example Kan-on 筆 /hitu/ 'brush' vs. 鉛筆 /eN.pitu/ 'pencil'. Middle Chinese rimes or "finals" contained a vowel, optional glides before the vowel (sometimes called "medials"), and an optional coda consonant /j, w, m, n, ŋ, p, t, k/— schematically (j)(w)V(C). The precise phonetic realization of
7968-541: The stem underwent a sound change, as in tassuru ( 達する , reach) , from tatsu ( 達 ) . The term kango is usually identified with on'yomi ( 音読み , "sound reading") , a system of pronouncing Chinese characters in a way that at one point approximated the original Chinese. On'yomi is also known as the 'Sino-Japanese reading', and is opposed to kun'yomi ( 訓読み , "reading by meaning") under which Chinese characters are assigned to, and read as, native Japanese vocabulary. However, there are cases where
8064-400: The time period of borrowing. Go-on ( 呉音 "Wu sound") readings represent the first major wave of Chinese borrowing in the 5th and 6th centuries, coinciding with the introduction of Buddhism in Japan . It is not agreed whether Go-on pronunciations are clearly derived from a particular dialect of Middle Chinese. Buddhist teachings along with the Chinese language were largely imported through
8160-769: The two on'yomi categories are largely due to changes that took place between Early and Late Middle Chinese. The Early Middle Chinese (EMC) voiced obstruents became breathy voiced in Late Middle Chinese , e.g. [b > pɦ]. EMC [ɲ] became [ɻ], later becoming [ʐ] in Northern Chinese dialects. In the Japanese of both time periods, the voiced obstruents were prenasalized as [ b, d, dz, g], helping to explain why they correspond to Middle Chinese nasals in Kan on'yomi . The Japanese consonant [p] developed first to [f] or [ɸ], and more recently to /h/ (with allophones [h, ɸ, ç]). Older [p] remains modern Japanese /p/ after
8256-623: The two languages now occur independently of each other. These "back-borrowings" gave rise to Mandarin diànhuà (from denwa ), kēxué (from kagaku ), shèhuì (from shakai ) and zhéxué (from tetsugaku ). Since the sources for the wasei kango included ancient Chinese texts as well as contemporary English-Chinese dictionaries, some of the compounds—including 文化 bunka ('culture', Mandarin wénhuà ) and 革命 kakumei ('revolution', Mandarin gémìng )—might have been independently coined by Chinese translators, had Japanese writers not coined them first. A similar process of reborrowing occurred in
8352-689: The words contained in modern Japanese dictionaries are kango , and that about 18–20% of words used in common speech are kango . The usage of such kango words also increases in formal or literary contexts, and in expressions of abstract or complex ideas. Kango , the use of Chinese-derived words in Japanese, is to be distinguished from kanbun , which is historical Literary Chinese written by Japanese in Japan. Both kango in modern Japanese and classical kanbun have Sino-xenic linguistic and phonetic elements also found in Korean and Vietnamese: that is, they are "Sino-foreign", meaning that they are not pure Chinese but have been mixed with
8448-508: Was a large-scale effort to replace Go-on readings with Kan-on readings when pronouncing Chinese texts in Japan, this effort did not extend to changing the pronunciation of borrowed words that were already used in Japanese. Massive borrowing of Chinese loanwords continued during this period, and these new borrowings reflected the new Kan-on readings. Today, Kan-on readings are the most commonly encountered type of on'yomi . Kan'yō-on ( 慣用音 "customary sound") readings are not considered to follow
8544-416: Was approximated in words borrowed from Chinese into Japanese; this Sino-Japanese vocabulary is still an important component of the Japanese language, and may be compared to words of Latin or Greek origin in English. Chinese borrowings also significantly influenced Japanese phonology , leading to many new developments such as closed syllables (CV(N), not just CV) and length becoming a phonetic feature with
8640-1175: Was borrowed from Chinese, a considerable amount was created by the Japanese themselves as they coined new words using Sino-Japanese forms. These are known as wasei-kango ( 和製漢語 , Japanese-created kango ) ; compare to wasei-eigo ( 和製英語 , Japanese-created English) . Many Japanese-created kango refer to uniquely Japanese concepts. Examples include daimyō ( 大名 ) , waka ( 和歌 ) , haiku ( 俳句 ) , geisha ( 芸者 ) , chōnin ( 町人 ) , matcha ( 抹茶 ) , sencha ( 煎茶 ) , washi ( 和紙 ) , jūdō ( 柔道 ) , kendō ( 剣道 ) , Shintō ( 神道 ) , shōgi ( 将棋 ) , dōjō ( 道場 ) , seppuku ( 切腹 ) , and Bushidō ( 武士道 ). Another miscellaneous group of words were coined from Japanese phrases or crossed over from kun'yomi to on'yomi . Examples include henji ( 返事 meaning 'reply', from native 返り事 kaerigoto 'reply'), rippuku ( 立腹 'become angry', based on 腹が立つ hara ga tatsu , literally 'belly/abdomen stands up'), shukka ( 出火 'fire starts or breaks out', based on 火が出る hi ga deru ), and ninja ( 忍者 from 忍びの者 shinobi-no-mono meaning 'person of stealth'). In Chinese,
8736-476: Was borrowed from a modern Chinese dialect, is not kango , whereas 北京 ( Hokkyō , "Northern Capital", a name for Kyoto ), which was created with Chinese elements, is kango . Ancient China's enormous political and economic influence in the region had a deep effect on Japanese, Korean , Vietnamese and other Asian languages in East and Southeast Asia throughout history, in a manner somewhat similar to
8832-468: Was contrastive in Middle Chinese, but voiceless obstruents were adapted to Go and Kan pronunciations in the same way regardless of aspiration. However, many Kan'yō on'yomi exist with voiced obstruents corresponding to Middle Chinese unaspirated (and sometimes aspirated) voiceless obstruents. For example, 軍 (MC kjun ) 'army' has the prescribed Go/Kan reading kun , but Kan'yō gun is the only reading actually used in Japanese. There are multiple reasons for
8928-404: Was in this context used to mean "Chinese" (i.e. "real Chinese pronunciation"), with no intended connection to the earlier Tang Dynasty. Due to their more recent borrowing, Tō-on readings are sometimes more recognizably similar to Modern Chinese pronunciations. There are far fewer Sino-Japanese loanwords with Tō-on readings compared to Go-on and Kan-on readings. Dictionaries do not attempt to provide
9024-403: Was inserted after the consonant in most environments. Kan-on readings use /tu/ exclusively, while the earlier Go'on readings use both /ti/ and /tu/ unpredictably. For example, MC 跋 bat is adapted as Go /batu/, while the homophonous MC 犮 bat is listed in dictionaries as Go /bati/ (though it is not actually used in existing Japanese words). Often Go readings with /ti/ and /tu/ are listed for
9120-491: Was placed in the chamber, and accessories, swords, and bronze mirrors were laid both inside and outside the coffin. The wall paintings have been designated national treasures and the grave goods as important cultural property , while the tumulus is a special historic site . Kofun burial mounds and their remains have been found all over Japan, including remote islands such as Nishinoshima . A total of 161,560 kofun tomb sites have been found as of 2001. Hyōgo Prefecture has
9216-665: Was the result of the relatively centralized governmental structure in the Nara Basin, possibly the origin of the Yamato polity and the Imperial lineage of Japan. During the 5th century AD, the construction of keyhole kofun began in Yamato Province ; continued in Kawachi, where gigantic kofun, such as Daisen Kofun of the Emperor Nintoku , were built; and then throughout the country. The proliferation of keyhole kofun
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