Global InformationKokuji information
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In Japanese, Kokuji (国字, "national characters") or Wasei kanji (和製漢字, "Japanese-made kanji") are kanji created in Japan rather than borrowed from China. Like most Chinese characters, they are primarily formed by combining existing characters - though using combinations that are not used in Chinese.
Since kokuji are generally devised for existing native words, they usually only have native kun readings. However, they occasionally also have a Chinese on reading derived from a related kanji, such as 働 (dō, 'work'), which takes its on pronunciation from 動 (dō, 'move'). In rare cases a kokuji may only have an on reading, such as 腺 (sen, 'gland'), which was derived from 泉 (sen, 'spring, fountain') for use in medical terminology.
The majority of kokuji are semantic compounds, meaning that they are composed of two (or more) characters with relevant meanings. For example, 働 ('work') is composed of 亻 ('person' radical) plus 動 ('move'). This is in contrast to Chinese kanji, which are overwhelmingly phono-semantic compounds. This is because the phonetic element of phono-semantic kanji is always based on the on reading, which most kokuji don't have, leaving semantic compounding as the only alternative. Other examples include 榊 'sakaki tree', formed from 木 'tree' and 神 'god' (literally 'divine tree'), and 辻 'crossroads' formed from 辶 'road' and 十 'cross'.
Kokuji are especially common for describing species of flora and fauna including a very large number of fish such as 鰯 (sardine), 鱈 (codfish), 鮴 (seaperch), and 鱚 (sillago), and trees such as 樫 (evergreen oak), 椙 (Japanese cedar), 椛 (birch, maple) and 柾 (spindle tree).[1]
- ^ Koichi (2012-08-21). "Kokuji: "Made In Japan," Kanji Edition". Tofugu. Archived from the original on March 6, 2017. Retrieved 2017-03-05.