REMEMBERING THE KANJI Il systematic guide to reading abanes se characters James W. Heisig©1987 by James W. Heisig All cghts reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereoin any form without the writen permission ofthe publisher. Published by Jaeay Pusticanions Trabine Co.. Lip. 1-2-1, Sarugaku-cho, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo, 101° Japan First edition, First printing: January 1987 Seventh printing: March 1993, Distributors: Une Srares: Kodansha America, In, though Farrar, Sirs & Cirous, 19 Union Square West, New York, N.Y. 10003 aya: Pishenry & Whiteside Lal, 9! Cranton Drive, pation Hi) Omari. fab 283 uns Tous and Eunomian Connnst: Premier Book Marketing Ld ‘A 1 Gower are London WCIE OHA. it vsraalin and New ZeaLan.Boolwise Intemational, $4 Critenden Road, Findon, South Australia 5023. jer Ra ‘Tay Fax Rast and Jars Japan Publications Trading Co., Lid, 1.2'1, Sarugatu-cho, Givodata, Tokyo, 101 Japan 0987 ISBN 0-87040-748-1 ISBN APAN) 4-88996-003-1 Printed in Japan CONTENTS Introduction PART ONE: Chinese Readings 1. The Kana and Their Kanji 2. Pure Groups 3. One-Time Chinese Readings 4. Characters with No Chinese Readings 5. Semi-Pure Groups 6. Readings from Everyday Words 7. Mixed Groups 8. Readings from Useful Compounds 9, A Potpourri of Readings 10, Supplementary Readings PART TWO: Japanese Readings 11. A Mnemonics for the Japanese Readings INDEXES Index 1. ‘The Signal Primitives Index 2. The Kanji Index 3. Chinese Readings Index 4. Japanese Readings Index 5. Cross-Reference List ie 20 85 89 121 150 198 226 256 295 313 317 328 348 373INTRODUCTION AAs the title suggests, the present book has been prepared as a companion ‘volume to Remembering the Kanji: A Complete Course on How Not to Forget the Meaning and Writing oflapanese Characters. It presumes thatthe mater covered in the first book has already been mastered and concentrates exchi- sively on the pronunciation of the Japanese characters. Those who ap- Proached the study ofthe kanji in a different manner may find what isin these pages of some use, but it has not been designed with them in ming. ‘As I explained inthe Introduction to the former volume, if ts the stu- dent's goal to acquire profiiency in using the Japanese writing system, the entre set of *general-use characters” (7 oF) need tobe leaned. To in- Siston studying them in the order of importance or frequeney generally fl- lowed in Japanese schools is pointless if some other order is more effective as ‘means to that final goal. A moment’ reflection on the matter is enough to Aispose ofthe common bias thatthe methods employed by those who eome 10 Japanese asa foreign language should mirror the methods used by the Japan ese themselves to learn how to read and write. Accumulated experience and ‘education—and in most eases an energetic impatience with one's own ig- norance—distnguish the older student too radically from Japanese school children to permit basic study habits tobe taken aver with only cosmetic changes. A clearer focus on the destination should help the older student chart @ course more suited to his or her time, resources, and learning abiliies—and not just run harder and faster around the same track. Perhaps the single greatest obstacle to taking full advantage of one’s privileged position as an adult foreigner isa healthy fear of imposing alien systems on Japanese language structures. But to impose a system on ways of leaming a language does not necessarily mean to impose a system on the lan- vag itself. To mis this distinction isto rsk condemning oneself to the worst Sorts of ineticiency forthe worst sorts of reasons. Obviously the simplest way to learn Japanese is asthe Japanese them- selves do: by constant repetition, without interference, ina closed cultural en- vironment. Applied tothe Kanji this involves drilling and driling and diling nti the forms and sounds become habitual. The simplest way, alas, i also the most time-consuming and frustrating. By adding a bit of organized complexity to one's study investments, the same level of proficiency can be fined ina fraction of the time. This was demonstrate in the first volume as far as the meaning and writing ofthe characters are concerned. By isolating