Video 2: Kanji in Tobira Lesson 7

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Description: This is a dual-language video, with content in both Japanese and English. Selecting either English or Japanese captions will provide the same dual-language captions. This video covers the Japanese kanji characters in Lesson 7 of the textbook, Tobira: Gateway to Advanced Japanese Learning Through Content and Multimedia.

Instructor: Dr. Takako Aikawa

Hai, de wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, imi wa ‘settle,’ sore kara, ‘finish, relieve,’ to itta imi ga arimasu.

De, component wo chotto mite ikimashō.

Kore kara desu ne, kono radical wo mitara, itsumo ‘water.’ Kono radical wa Nihongo de ‘sanzui’ to iimasu.

So this radical always stands for water.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, kore wa ‘bun.’ So ‘letter.’ And this part looks like a ladder.

So imagine a story where near the water, someone is climbing up the ladder with a letter, with his hand to finish or settle a battle.

To iu no de, ma, ‘finish.’ Sore kara ‘settle,’ no imi ga arimasu.

Yomikata desu keredo mo, on reading.

Kore wa ‘zai.’ ‘kēzai,’ ‘economics.’ Sore kara, ‘kyūsai,’ kore wa ‘to rescue’ to iu imi desu.

Kun reading desu keredo mo, kun reading wa ‘su’ to iimasu.

De, intransitive verb de ‘nani nani ga sumu,’ ‘something is done or get done.’ Tatoeba, ‘shiken ga sunda,’ ‘the exam was done.’ Sore kara, intransative verb.

Kono toki ni wa, ‘nani nani wo sumaseru.’ Tatoeba, ‘hayaku shukudai wo sumasete kudasai,’ ‘finish your homework as early as possible.’ Konna imi ga arimasu.

Hai, de wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji, imi wa ‘article’ to ka ‘goods’ no imi ga arimasu.

Mō, kono component daijōbu desu yo ne. ‘kuchi,’ ‘mouth.’ So, a person with three mouths.

A salesman talks a lot in order to sell goods.

To iu no de, ma, ‘goods’ to iu imi desu kedo.

Yomikata nan desu keredo mo, on reading.

Kore wa ‘hin’ to iimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘shokuhin,’ kore wa ‘taberu goods’ so goods to eat, ma, foods desu yo ne.

Sore kara, ‘shōhin,’ kore wa ‘merchandise.’ Taoteba, ‘kono mise wa donna shōhin wo utteimasuka?’ Sore kara, ‘sēhin,’ ‘manufactured goods.’ ‘kono kaisha wa donna sēhin wo tsukutteimasuka?’ Sore kara, kono combination, kore wa ‘sakuhin,’ ‘work,’ nan desu keredo mo, art ni kankeishita work.

So, work related to art.

Tatoeba, music.

Sore kara, painting.

Sore kara, novels to ka, literature.

itta work desu.

Tatoeba, ‘kono shōsetsu wa, Natsume Sōseki no sakuhin desu,’ ‘the work by Sōseki Natsume,’ to iu imi desu.

Sore kara, ‘hinshitsu.’ Kore wa goods no quality.

Tatoeba, ‘kono shōhin wa, hin shitsu ga ii.’ ‘good quality’ to iu imi desu.

Sore kara ‘jōhin’ to iu, kore ‘na adjective’ nan desu keredo mo, ‘elegant’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘kanojo wa jōhin na hito da.’ Konna tsukaikata wo shimasu.

Sore kara kun reading de wa ‘shina.’ Amari tsukaimasen keredo mo.

Tatoeba, ‘shina’ kore ‘goods.’ Sore kara ‘shinamono’ kore de ‘goods,’ dochira mo onaji imi desu.

Hai, de wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, imi wa ‘insect, bug’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Chotto component wo mitemimashō.

Kono part, desu ne, you can imagine a magnifying glass, and this part you can imagine an insect.

So together it’s more like someone is investigating or looking into the insect with a magnifying glass, to iu imi nan desu ga.

Yomikata desu ga, on reading de ‘chū’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

‘konchū,’ kore wa, kore de, ma, ‘insect’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Sore kara, kun reading desu keredo mo, ‘mushi.’ Kore mo ‘insect’ no imi desu.

Sore kara kore ‘mushiba,’ omoshiroi desu ne.

Kono kanji wa ‘ha,’ ‘teeth,’ no imi ga arimasu.

So there is an insect in your teeth, so this is ‘cavity.’ Sore kara ‘yowamushi.’ ‘yowai,’ kore wa ‘weak’ desu yo ne. ‘yowamushi’ to iu no de ‘coward.’ Sore kara ‘nakimushi.’ Kore wa ‘naku’ to iu kanji, ‘to cry,’ so ‘crybaby’ desu.

Kono lesson de desu ne, minna wa kono Tezuka Osamu to iu Nihon de ichiban yūmē na mangaka wo benkyōshimasu.

Tezuka Osamu wa Astroboy to ka itta manga wo kaiteiru hito desu.

De, kono hito no namae no koko ni ichiban saigo, kono kanji ga kono insect to iu kanji desu.

Hai, de wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji, imi wa ‘round.’ Sore kara desu ne, toki doki desu kedo, this kanji can be used as a suffix for names of ships or people desu.

De, ma, toku ni story wa nain desu keredo mo, there’s no story associated with this character, but you see this ‘kyu,’ desu yo ne, kanji no ‘kyu.’ Sore kara dot desu kedo.

Kono dot wa koko ni oite kudasai.

Yomikata desu ga, kun reading de ‘maru’ to iu no ga arimasu.

Tatoeba ‘marui,’ ‘round.’ Sore kara, ‘hinomaru,’ kore wa ‘Nihon no flag’ to iu imi desu.

‘hinomaru.’ So you can see the round of the sun in the Japanese flag.

Hinomaru.

Yoku ‘hinomaru no hata’ to iimasu.

Sore kara, ‘marugao.’ Kore wa marui kao, ‘round face.’ Sore kara desu ne, kono rē, ‘Nihon maru’ desu kedo, kore wa, this is the one of the kind of the name for Nihonmaru, one ship.

Nihonmaru.

So this is a case where this kanji can be used as a suffix for the name of a ship.

Nihonmaru.

Sore kara, kore mo amari tsukawarenain desu keredo mo, kun reading de ‘gan’ to iu no ga arimasu.

Kore ‘ichigan,’ kore ‘one lump’ to iu tsukaikata ga arimasu.

Hai.

De wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji, imi wa ‘life’ no imi ga arimasu.

De, chotto kono component wo mite kudasai.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, so this character actually itself means ‘order’ no imi ga arimasu.

De, hitotsu; rēwa, kore wa ima no, this is rēwa, this is the current era of Japan.

Rēwa nan nen to iu.

And nisen nijyūichi nen wa rēwa san nen desu.

So rēwa actually literally means ‘the order of peace’ to iu imi desu.

Sore kara, kono part, kono part wa, ii desu ne, mō, ‘kuchi,’ ‘mouth,’ no imi desu.

So a mouth issuing an order, it’s a matter of life and death, to iu no de, ma, kore, zenbu de ‘life’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Yomikata desu keredo mo, kun reading de ‘inochi.’ Tatoeba, ‘kimi no inochi wo morau!’ literally ‘I will receive the life, your life,’ nan desu keredo mo, ma, imi toshite wa ‘omae wo korosu zo,’ ‘I will kill you,’ to iu na imi desu ga.

Sore kara, ‘kare no inochi wa, amari nagakunai,’ ‘his life won’t be so long.’ Ato, on reading de ‘mē’ to iu yomikata wo shimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘sēmē,’ kore wa ‘life.’ Sore kara ‘mērē’ desu keredo mo, ‘life order’ kore ‘order’ no imi ga arimasu.

Tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu kedo, imi wa, desu ne, ‘war,’ ‘fight, battle’ no imi ga arimasu.

Chotto component wo mite ikimashō.

Kore kara kono part, kono component wo mitara, imagine, think about spear.

Sore kara, hidarigawa no part.

Kono kanji wa, this kanji itself means ‘individual,’ or ‘single,’ to iu imi ga arimasu keredo mo, so one individual with a spear, so he’s probably going to go to fight or battle.

iu imi ga arimasu.

Yomikata desu keredo mo, on reading, kore ga ‘sen.’ Tatoeba, ‘sensō,’ ‘war,’ desu ne.

Particle chotto kiwotsukete kudasai.

‘Nani nani to sensō suru.’ Sore kara, ‘dai ni ji sekai taisen,’ ‘the world war two,’ ‘dai ichi ji sekai taisen,’ ‘the world, world war first’ no imi desu.

Sore kara ‘sengo, senzen’ desu yo ne.

Sensō no ato, sensō no mae.

Ato, ‘senjō.’ Kore wa ‘battlefield’ no imi desu.

Kun reading de ‘tatakau’ to iu yomikata ga arimasu.

‘Tatakau.’ Tatoeba, ‘Ano team to tatakaimasu.’ Particle wa dochira mo ‘to’ desu. kyōtsukete kudasai.

Hai, de wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, imi wa ‘contend, dispute, argue’ no imi ga arimasu.

Chotto component wo mite mimashō.

Story desu keredo mo, kono part.

Imagine someone’s mouth opening.

And this part, imagine that the shape of the hand.

So someone is holding a stick and shouting to argue or to dispute or to contend.

Sonna story wo kangaete mite kudasai.

Ato, yomikata desu keredo mo, on reading de wa ‘sō.’ Tatoeba, ‘sensō.’ Sore kara, ‘ronsō,’ kore wa, ma, ‘argument, argumentation’ no imi desu. ‘ron’ wa ‘riron,’ ‘ronbun,’ sono logic no imi desu kedo.

Sore kara ‘kyōsō,’ ‘to compete,’ to iu mono ga arimasu.

Ato, kun reading de “arasou’ to iu tsukaikata o shimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘chūgoku to arasoimasu.’ Ma, kore wa ‘to argue,’ toiuka ‘to fight with’ no imi mo detekimasu.

Koko no particle wa ‘to’ desu kara kyōtsukete kudasai.

Tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, imi wa ‘not yet’ to iu imi desu.

Story desu keredo mo, you can imagine a tree, a sapling tree with small branches.

So this tree is not yet fully grown.

Dakara ‘not yet’ to iu imi desu kedo.

Yomikata nan desu ga, on reading de wa ‘mi’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

‘mirai,’ future.

Sore kara ‘mikansē,’ kore wa ‘kansē’ to iu no wa ‘to complete’ no imi desu.

So ‘not completed’ or ‘unfinished.’ Sore kara, ‘mikon.’ Kono ‘kon’ tte iu no wa, ‘kekkon,’ ‘marriage’ no imi desu.

So ‘marriage not yet,’ meaning ‘not married’ to iu tsukaikata ga arimasu.

Hai.

Jya, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu kedo, imi wa ‘deep’ no imi ga arimasu.

Chotto component wo mitemimashō.

Kono radical.

Kono radical wo mitara, itsumo water.

Kore ‘sanzui’ to iimasu.

Water no imi wo kangaete kudasai.

Sore kara kono, kono bubun desu keredo mo, you can associate this part with another kanji ‘ana,’ which means ‘hole.’ Sore kara, koko, kore wa minna shittemasu yo ne, ‘tree.’ So you can imagine a boat tree, or I mean the tree boat, with a hole, so that it will sink into the water, deeply.

So kore zenbu de ‘deep’ to iu imi desu.

Yomikata desu keredo mo, kun reading de ‘fukai.’ Sore kara, on reading de ‘shin.’ Tatoeba, ‘shinya,’ kore wa ‘yoru ga fukai.’ So, ma, ‘deep in the night,’ ma, ‘late at night’ to iu imi desu.

Sore kara, ‘shinkai,’ kore wa ‘deep ocean’ or ‘deep sea.’ Sore kara na adjective de ‘shinkoku na’ to iu na adjective ga arimasu.

Imi wa ‘serious’ desu.

Hai.

Jya, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu keredo mo, imi wa ‘number’ desu.

Sore kara, ‘destination,’ ‘sign,’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Story desu keredo mo, toku ni story wa arimasen.

There’s no really nice story to this, to describe this kanji but kono part, kore wa ‘mouth.’ Sore kara, kore mo shita no part, nan desu keredo mo, this part looks like kanji ‘man,’ but it’s actually not.

So there’s no line here.

So be careful.

De, yomikata desu keredo mo, on reading de ‘gō.’ Tatoeba, ‘bangō,’ ‘number.’ Sore kara ‘nengō,’ ‘the name of an era.’ Tatoeba, ‘ima no Nihon no nengō wa rēwa desu.’ Sore kara ‘kigō,’ ‘symbol.’ ‘shingō,’ ‘traffic light.’ Sore kara number plus ‘gōsha’ to iu no de counter toshite mo tsukawaremasu.

Tatoeba, densha no sono car number, wo shime shimasu.

‘ichigōsha,’ ‘car number one.’ ‘nigōsha,’ ‘car number two.’ Konna tsukaikata mo arimasu.

Hai.

De wa, tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji, imi wa ‘sad’ to iu imi ga arimasu.

Chotto component wo mite mimashō.

Mazu, ue no component, kono part desu keredo mo, kono part no imi wa ‘negative,’ to ka ‘un’ no imi ga arimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘hijō.’ Kore, kono kanji wa desu ne, ‘usual’ no imi ga arimasu.

So hijō tte iu no wa ‘unsual.’ Demo, ‘hijō ni’ tte iu no de ‘very much’ to iu imi mo arimasu.

Tsugi.

Kono shita no part.

Kono part wa minna yoku shitteru to omoun desu keredo mo, ‘heart’ no imi ga arimasu.

So the heart has negative feeling, so, you are sad, to iu imi desu.

Yomikata nan desu keredo mo, kun reading de wa ‘kanashii.’ Sore kara on reading de wa ‘hi’ to iu yomikata ga arimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘higeki.’ Kono ‘geki’ to iu no wa ‘play’ to ka ‘theatre’ no imi ga arun desu keredo mo, so ‘higeki,’ ‘tragedy’ no imi desu.

Hai.

Tsugi no kanji desu.

Kono kanji desu kedo, imi wa ‘norm, status, rank, standard,’ ma, itta imi ga arimasu.

De, hidarigawa no kono radical, kore wa daijōbu desu yo ne, ‘tree.’ Sore kara migigawa, kono part nan desu keredo mo, by itself actually it stands for the meaning of ‘each.’ ‘kaku’ to iu fu ni yomimasu keredo mo, so you can imagine like each tree has its own standard, or status, ma, sonna fu ni oboete ii ka to omoimasu.

De, reading desu kedo, kore on reading de ‘kaku’ to iimasu.

Tatoeba, ‘sēkaku,’ kore ‘personality.’ ‘taikaku,’ kore wa karada, body, so ‘body status’ to iu no de ‘physique.’ Sore kara ‘kakaku,’ ‘price, cost.’ Ato desu ne, ‘gōkaku,’ ‘gōkaku suru,’ ‘to pass entrance exam’ to iu no ni, Tatoeba, ‘nyūgaku shiken ni gōkaku shita,’ ‘I passed the entrance exam.’ Particle ‘ni,’ ‘ni’ kyōtsukete kudasai.