Someone recently asked me how many Kanji I could read after living here for four years. Given that you need to know 1,945 characters (mandated by the government and taught in schools) to be able to read newspapers and most literature in Japan - I am assuredly illiterate.
Additionally Kanji have both a Japanese pronounciation called Kun and a Chinese pronounciation called On or Hon, because Kanji came from China. With a few exceptions, I only know the Japanese reading.
What I do know are usually pictographs, symbols and a few ideographs. I know very few phono-ideographs, which are what makes up about 80% of Kanji (they're the hardest to learn).
Here's the wiki entry on Kanji.
Honestly, I really can't read. So a better question would be how many Kanji can I recognize?
In no particular order (and I know I am forgetting some, I'll add them when/if I remember). If I wasn't lazy, I would put the Kanji in, too, but that involves a lot of cutting and pasting.
Additionally Kanji have both a Japanese pronounciation called Kun and a Chinese pronounciation called On or Hon, because Kanji came from China. With a few exceptions, I only know the Japanese reading.
What I do know are usually pictographs, symbols and a few ideographs. I know very few phono-ideographs, which are what makes up about 80% of Kanji (they're the hardest to learn).
Here's the wiki entry on Kanji.
Honestly, I really can't read. So a better question would be how many Kanji can I recognize?
In no particular order (and I know I am forgetting some, I'll add them when/if I remember). If I wasn't lazy, I would put the Kanji in, too, but that involves a lot of cutting and pasting.
Oil
Camelia (Tsubaki) I learned these two together because I use camelia oil as a hair treatment.
School
Man
Woman
Noisy (made up of three little versions of the kanji for woman. Ha ha ha)
Child
Dog
Bird
Horse (that comes from learning it to avoid eating horse meat, a popular dish here)
Fish
Sun
Moon
Sky
Rain
Wind
North
South
East
West
Fire
Water
Electricity
Danger
Disaster
Thunder
Lightening
Earthquake
Rain
Wheel (included in the characters for car, bike and train)
Thing/Things
Goods (like in Dry Goods)
Laundry
Fat
Carbohydrate
Calories
Fiber
(all of these are actually a series of Kanji)
Red
Black
White
Grey
Purple
Green/Blue
Bamboo
Raw or Draft (nama, used as in Nama Biru - draft beer)
Alcohol
Rice
Vegetable(s)
Shop/Store/Vendor
Hour
Minute
Day
Month
Year
Most numbers
Yen
Discount
Winter
Spring
Summer
Fall
Entrance
Exit
Stop
Enlightenment
Samurai
Tea
Helmet
Silk
Cotton
Wool (same kanji as "Hair")
Gold
Silver
River
Spring
Mountain
Tree
Forest
Over
Under
Field
Village
City
Gate
Corner
Flower
Book (one of the few I know both Japanese and Chinese readings)
Stone/Rock
Feather/Wing
Person
Love
Spirit
Old
Heaven
Power
Inside/Deep
Dream
Light
Medicine/Drug
Big (also know Japanese and Chinese reading for this one)
Inside
Umbrella
Road/Way
Book also used as Origin - Japanese and Chinese reading)
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