Article published In:
The architecture of writing systemsEdited by Kristian Berg, Franziska Buchmann and Nanna Fuhrhop
[Written Language & Literacy 17:2] 2014
► pp. 173–194
Edited by Kristian Berg, Franziska Buchmann and Nanna Fuhrhop
[Written Language & Literacy 17:2] 2014
► pp. 173–194
Jōyō kanji as core building blocks of the Japanese writing system
Some observations from database construction
The architecture of writing systems metaphor has special relevance for understanding the structural nature of the Japanese writing system, and, more specifically, for appreciating how the 2,136 kanji of the 常用漢字表 /jō-yō-kan-ji-hyō/* ‘List of characters for general use’ function as the core building blocks in the orthographic representation of a considerable proportion of the Japanese lexicon. In seeking to illuminate the multiple layers of internal structure within Japanese kanji, the Japanese lexicon, and the Japanese writing system, the paper draws on insights and observations gained from an ongoing project to construct a large-scale Japanese lexical database system. Reflecting structural distinctions within the database, the paper consists of three main sections addressing the different structural levels of kanji components, jōyō kanji, and the lexicon. Keywords: Japanese writing system; building blocks; jōyō kanji; components; orthographic structure; database
References (15)
Bunkachō [Japanese Agency for Cultural Affairs] (2010). Jōyōkanjihyō [Jōyō kanji list]. [URL] (accessed 10th March 2013).
Coulmas, Florian (1989). The writing systems of the world. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Iwanami (2008). Kōjien [Kōjien dictionary]. 6th edition. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten.
Joyce, Terry (2002). The Japanese mental lexicon: the lexical retrieval and representation of two-kanji compound words from a morphological perspective. Unpublished doctoral thesis. University of Tsukuba, Japan.
(2011). The significance of the morphographic principle for the classification of writing-systems. In Susanne R. Borgwaldt & Terry Joyce (eds.), Typology of writing systems. Special issue of Written Language and Literacy 14.1: 58–81. 
Joyce, Terry, Bor Hodošček & Kikuko Nishina (2012). Orthographic representation and variation within the Japanese writing system: some corpus-based observations. In Terry Joyce & David Roberts (eds.), Units of language – units of writing. Special issue of Written Language and Literacy 15.2: 254–278.
Nomura, Masaaki (1988). Niji kango no kozo [The structure of two-kanji Sino-Japanese words]. Nihongogaku [Study of Japanese Language] 71: 44–55.
Morohashi, Tetsuji (Chief-editor) (1955–1960). Daikawajiten [Comprehensive Chinese-Japanese dictionary], 13 vols1. Tokyo: Taishukan.
National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics (NINJAL) (2011). Gendai nihongo kakikotoba kinkō kōpasu [Balanced corpus of contemporary written Japanese]. [Data DVD]. Tokyo: Center for Corpus Development, National Institute for Japanese Language and Linguistics.
Saito, Hirofumi, Masahiro Kawakami & Hisashi Masuda (1995). Kanji kōsei ni okeru buhin (bushu) no shutsugen hindō hyō [Frequency of semantic and phonetic components of radical types in complex left-right kanji]. Studies in Informatics and Sciences 11: 113–134.
(1997). Jōge bunri kanji ni okeru buhin (bushu) no shutugen hindō hyō II [Frequency of components of radical types in complex (top-bottom) kanji]. Studies in Informatics and Sciences 61: 115–130.
Shirakawa, Shizuka (2012). Jōyō jikai [Analysis of Jōyō kanji]. 2nd edition. Tokyo: Heibonsha.
Smith, Janet S. (1996). Japanese writing. In Peter T. Daniels & William S. Bright (eds.), The world’s writing system, 209–217. New York: Oxford University Press.
Taylor, Insup & Kwonsaeng Park (1995). Differential processing of content words and function words: Chinese characters vs. phonetic scripts. In Insup Taylor & David R. Olson (eds.), Scripts and literacy: Reading and learning to read alphabets, syllabaries and characters (Neuropsychology and cognition 7), 185–195. Dordrecht, Boston and London: Kluwer.
Twine, Nanette (1991). Language and the modern state: The reform of written Japanese. London: Routledge.
Cited by (5)
Cited by five other publications
Joyce, Terry & Dimitrios Meletis
2021. Alternative criteria for writing system typology. Zeitschrift für Sprachwissenschaft 40:3 ► pp. 257 ff. 
Joyce, Terry & Hisashi Masuda
2018. Chapter 9. Introduction to the multi-script Japanese writing system and word processing. In Writing Systems, Reading Processes, and Cross-Linguistic Influences [Bilingual Processing and Acquisition, 7], ► pp. 179 ff.
Joyce, Terry & Hisashi Masuda
Masuda, Hisashi & Terry Joyce
2018. Chapter 11. Constituent-priming investigations of the morphological activation of Japanese compound words. In Writing Systems, Reading Processes, and Cross-Linguistic Influences [Bilingual Processing and Acquisition, 7], ► pp. 221 ff.
Joyce, Terry, Bor Hodošček & Hisashi Masuda
2017. Constructing an ontology and database of Japanese lexical properties. Written Language & Literacy 20:1 ► pp. 27 ff.
This list is based on CrossRef data as of 21 july 2024. Please note that it may not be complete. Sources presented here have been supplied by the respective publishers. Any errors therein should be reported to them.