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"Kanji and the Japanese People" by Toshio Takashima (Bunshun Shinsho)
In Japanese, there are over 40 compound words pronounced as "koukou," and Japanese people perform the miraculous feat of instantly distinguishing these in conversation. The abundance of homophones is unavoidable due to Japanese having only about 100 syllables (compared to over 3000 in English), meaning Japanese people can produce fewer types of sounds. This book explains this phenomenon through the history of Sino-Japanese words.
It's so fascinating that you'll regret seeing the remaining pages decrease; every sentence you pick is overwhelmingly interesting.
Why are there so many compound words with kanji of similar meanings, like "happiness," "road," and "respect"? Why does "geometry" use such mysterious kanji? Why is "Izumi" written as "和泉"? The mysteries of kanji are beautifully unraveled, and the reader is stunned by the thunderous conclusion. It was incredibly interesting.
Quoting from the book:
"For Japanese people, it's natural that 'even if the sounds are the same, different characters mean different things,' and when they hear 'Enter koukou and become a koukou parent,' they immediately understand the meaning. This is because 'the moment they hear the word, the correct characters instantly appear in their mind,'" the book explains. "Japanese people perform such seemingly miraculous feats constantly in daily life, without even being aware of it."
People were conversing using words long before writing was invented, and "originally, words are meant to be spoken and heard. In other words, the essence of language is sound." However, "in Japanese, characters are the essence of language, and meaning isn't determined until the heard sound is linked to a specific character."
In other words, "For Japanese people, the essence of words is characters. Sound is merely the shadow cast by those characters." In this sense, the author describes Japanese as "an inverted language" and "certainly a unique language."
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