The Furigana
As I have discussed before, the Japanese
sentence is composed of Hiragana, Katakana, and Kanji. So, it is better to
learn these three-writing systems of Japanese. Before we will proceed in
studying Kanji, let’s learn another writing system of Japanese sentence
structure.
ふりがな (振り仮名Furigana)
or よみがな (読み仮名Yomigana) is a
reading guide for Kanji used for learner’s materials for children or
foreigners, Kanji’s that are rare or have multiple meanings, signage or name of
railway stations. ふりがな is usually written in Hiragana
but in some cases, it may be written in Katakana.
ふりがな are used for Japanese children who
still have limited Kanji knowledge or cannot read Kanji yet but can understand
the meaning when written in Hiragana or Katakana. Most Manga especially in
Shonen (spelled as Shounen when writing it in Hiragana or Kanji しょうねん (少年)) and Shojo (spelled as Shoujo in
Hiragana or Kanji しょうじょ(少女))
manga used ふりがな written above Kanji. Others use ふりがな in slang words, especially writers, for the readers to understand
it properly.
Let’s check the sample below:
I have this magazine I bought last 2019. It's J-Generation magazine. At the back of the Magazine, there is a question SMAPとは何か？ (What is SMAP?) Underneath, there are Kanji’s written which means ‘end of national Idol’. As you have noticed, the ふりがな written above the Kanji is in Katakana.
アイドル (aidoru) means Idol. This is one example where the ふりがな is written in Katakana.
Another example is from Naruto manga.
This is a digital copy of the Naruto Manga.
In this part, Iruka-sensei is talking to Mizuki-sensei about how he recognizes
Naruto as his excellent student. As you have noticed, the ふりがな is written beside the Kanji. The ふりがな is
written in a small font as not to mix it in other hiragana when reading it.
Let’s take a look in One Piece.
Breakdown of the vocabulary words in One
piece:
夢 (ゆめ) – dream
海賊 (かいぞく) –
pirate
王 (おう) – King
そして – and
シャンクス – Shanks (the person that Luffy
looked up to)
再会 (さいかい) –
Reunion
驚異 (kyoui) – amazing or wonderful
ゴム – rubber
人間 (にんげん) –
person
白猟 (はくりょう) –
white hunting
スモーカー – Smoker (He is now the vice-admiral
and in G-5 navy)
The ふりがな in this picture of One Piece manga is written above the Kanji. One Piece is under Shonen manga same as Naruto. The Kanji for はくりょう in the description of Smoker can be read as しろりょう as the 白 can be read as はく and しろ. Both words mean white. This is one of the reasons why there is ふりがな written above or beside the Kanji to emphasize the pronunciation that the writer wants us to read.
I love all the straw hat crews equally. But
Smoker has a place in my heart. I love him since his debut and wish that
Oda-san will give him exposure or level up his skills. I just love him so much
and I keep on re-watching loguetown, Arabasta and Punk Hazard arc. He is like
Kakashi-sensei of Naruto. I mean I love Naruto and all the characters, but Kakashi-sensei
has a special place in my heart.
Bonus: I am not a manga reader though I
read Naruto and One Piece (I haven’t finished it as the manga is still ongoing)
as these two are my favorites. I also read Demon slayer, but I did not finish
it. I prefer watching Anime because I can improve my Japanese skills by
listening to what they are saying. I prefer listening than reading because I am a
sleepyhead and once, I close my eyes, I am already in the sleeping world.
That’s all for today’s blog. I’ll see in
the next post.
This is Ringo.
See you soon!
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