Kanji needs clearing out.

[fun duelist]

Kanji needs clearing out.

Well, I am trying to figure out how Kanji works. I have just got started with the 5 Kanjis that Mirforever has posted in his thread. Here's the problem:

When is a certin Kanji spelled in a certin way and when would it be spelled in another?

Kanji

Yup, on top of the above vocab, I’m giving you Kanji. Don’t worry too much though, I’m only giving you 5. Depending on different situations and combinations, these kanji can change their pronunciation, but their essential meaning remains basically the same.

日
Variations
ニチ、ニ、ニッ – day; sun; Sunday; (as a prefix or suffix) Japan
ジツ、ひ、－び、－ぴ　– sun; day
Examples
日本：にほん/にっぽん ~ Japan
日よう日：にちようび ~ Sunday

本
Variations
ホン、－ホン – book; this; main; origin
ホン、－ポン、-ボン – (counter for long objects)
もと - origin
Examples
日本：にほん/にっぽん ~ Japan
本：ほん ~ book

学
Variations
ガク、ガッ – learning; study; science; (as suffix) -ology
まなぶ
Examples
学生：がくせい ~ Student
学年：がくねん ~ Academic Year
学こう：がくこう ~ School

生
Variations
セイ – birth; life (as suffix) student
ショウ、- birth; life う-まれる – to be born
い-きる – to live
なま - raw
Examples
学生：がくせい ~ Student
一年生：いちねんせい ~ 1st year student (freshman)
～生まれ：～うまれ ~ born in “~” (day/month/year, etc)

名
Variations
メイ、みょう、な – name; reputation; fame
Examples
名し：めいし ~ Name card/business card.
名まえ：なまえ ~ Name

Well, that’s all for now!

I mean when am I supposed to spell 日 as Nichi, Ni, Jitsu, Hi, Bi? Also are these dashs Long Vowels?!

Finally, Is there like a chart for Kanji or are they arranged in a certin way to begin memorizing from? It's really quite hard and I am just trying to find a way to sort them and try working on the easiest first.

 

[onkeikun]

What miforever didn't mention is that kanji has two different ways to read them. One is onyomi, the other is kunyomi.

Onyomi is based on the original Chinese pronunciation of the kanji. You usually read this when the kanji is part of a compound (has another kanji attached to it to form the single word).
What you see in katakana up there is onyomi.

Kunyomi is what's original to the Japanese. This is read when the kanji can be read on its own, because they can act as complete nouns by itself, or because they are used as adjective/verb stems.
What you see in hiragana is kunyomi.

Unless the dash is really long and has an upward stroke on the left, like this: ー, it is not a long vowel. That's just miforever's way of organization.

 

[miforever]

I can't believe I forgot to mention that... >.>

And as for the dashes, it's just a hyphon. Next time I'll use a colon instead to avoid confusion. Sorry about that!


Oh and for future reference, I'm a girl.

 

[zero1328]

There's no such thing as "spelling" in Chinese or Japanese. Just pronunciation. Deciding on how to pronounce the kanji just depends on context. (you can see that a single character has multiple, but similar meanings.) You'll just have to learn this as time goes on.

Chinese characters are basically evolved symbols; a character may symbolise the object itself. Over time, it has become more abstract and simplified in look and form. I can't really suggest a good way to memorise symbols. Try memorising them by writing it multiple times..?

For example, 日 was originally more circular, like the Sun.

The most simplest kanji would be ones with a very low number of strokes. It can range from just 3-4, all the way up to 20+. The more complex ones are usually compounded from more simpler kanji.

You could try the bookstore/Google and for a Kanji dictionary. There are several thousand kanji used in Japanese.

 

[AznxLoneWolf]

Just think of kanji like the word "read." Based on the context, you know whether to say it as "red" or "reed."

 

[Devkyu]

I suggest getting Manga University's/How to Draw Manga's series Kana de Manga. In each volume it gives you sets of kanji and easy ways to memorize them.

Eventually, you'll just see kanji in a sentence and know the meaning of it automatically.