JapanesePod101.com Blog

When I came upon the compound 混沌 (konton: confusion, chaos, disorder), I couldn’t fathom why this word had taken on so much water (). I wondered whether the moisture had anything to do with the “swirling waters of confusion” to which English speakers refer. As it turns out, yes! Check out some of the meanings of these kanji (the second of which happens to be rare):

混: confused
沌: swirling water, to be blocked, primeval chaos

Primeval chaos?! Burbling bodies of water must have terrified some early people!

Swirl
Photo credit: Ray Byrne

Henshall says that 混 originally referred to water rushing and swirling with no fixed course, as in a flood. Then “confused waters” came to mean “confused” in a broader sense. He also says the 昆 inside 混 means “multitude” and acts phonetically here to express “to spin, swirl.” The element 昆 even lends its own idea of confusion, because people in a crowd mill around chaotically.

Swirling Waters
Photo credit: eatzycath

If this sounds entirely negative, never fear. The kanji 混 also means “to mix.” This associated meaning came about because impure elements often find their way into the swirling waters of confusion. This idea of “mixing” is not inherently negative. Just consider these appealing mixes:

雨混じりの雪 (ame majiri no yuki: snow mingled with rain)     rain + to mix + snow

混合酒 (kongōshu: cocktail, mixed drink, blended liquor)
     to mix + to join + alcohol

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Metropolis, Japan’s No. 1 English magazine, selected JapanesePod101.com as its first ever Website of the Week. Metropolis is a weekly English Magazine for foreigners with a focus on entertainment, events, and Japanese culture.

Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. These movies involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage with visual associations, sequence associations, humor and rhymes. We hope these will appeal to people with a variety of learning styles and that you enjoy them. We plan to introduce about 6-12 new Kanji per week to cover the Kanji taught in the first 6 years of school in Japan and the JLPT levels 4 and 3.

This week’s animation is titled What Box!

In English, “tail of the yak” and “tale of the yak” both make sense but mean very different things. This is nothing compared with the profusion of Japanese homonyms. When you type YAKU in hiragana and convert it to kanji, any of the following characters could pop up, as all have the on-yomi of YAKU:

約 (to promise, shrink, about)
訳 (to translate)
薬 (medicine)
役 (service, serviceability)
厄 (misfortune)
躍 (to leap)
疫 (epidemic)
益 (benefit, profit)　

This leads to a plethora of homophonous YAKU compounds.

There are three more types of yaku:

焼く (to burn, roast, grill, bake)

In this case, ya(ku) is the kun-yomi. Some compounds include the kun-yomi of this kanji, but the form is always yaki or yake. This kanji therefore doesn’t factor into the YAKU homonym confusion.

妬く (to become jealous)

This kun-yomi is uncommon and seems to play no part in any homonym problem.

ヤク (yak)

I believe this word also causes no compound confusion.

Yak Near the Sacred Yundrok Yumtso Lake, Tibet
Photo credit: Dennis Jarvis

Yakity Yak
Photo credit: Valerie Abbott

Yet Another YAKU …

YAKU Words with Great Internal Rhymes …

Kanji with Both EKI and YAKU as On-Yomi …

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Mina-san,

When we first started JapanesePod101.com, we only had a few lessons and a few levels, so it was very easy to figure out how to use the site. But now with over 700 lessons and many different levels and series, a lot of people have asked us “Where should I start?” While there are many ways to use the site, we definitely have a few recommendations!

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Also, since it’s Golden Week, we’re running a special Promo to save you 33% on any Basic or Premium Subscription! Woo-hoo!

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Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. These movies involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage with visual associations, sequence associations, humor and rhymes. We hope these will appeal to people with a variety of learning styles and that you enjoy them. We plan to introduce about 6-12 new Kanji per week to cover the Kanji taught in the first 6 years of school in Japan and the JLPT levels 4 and 3.

This week’s animation is titled Eyes!

Last week we saw how the 約 in 約束 (yakusoku: promise, promise + to bind) can imply a binding contract. I don’t usually associate contracts with any sense of contracting, which is to say “shrinking.” But just as “contract” has these two meanings, so does 約, strangely enough.

“Contract” in English (and Latin) …

In fact, Halpern says that “shortening” is the original meaning of 約. When does 約 convey a sense of shrinking? I can think of no better example than this one:

括約筋 (katsuyakukin: sphincter)
     to constrict + to shrink + muscle

Oh, come now. There are several sphincters in the body!

What’s With the Breakdown of 括?! …

Whereas 括約筋 conveys a drawing together, other 約 words are more about condensing something long:

要約 (yōyaku: summary, abridged statement)
     important + to shrink

約言 (yakugen: contraction, summary)     to shrink + speech

Two more 約 compounds have to do with restricting or regulating people’s rights:

制約 (seiyaku: restriction, limitation, condition)
     rule + to contract

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Thank you for all the name entries, for all the votes, and of course, we can’t forget the feedback. This has been a very interesting contest, not without its challenges.

We apologize for the delay in posting this prize announcement, but the logistics of a contest of this scale do not allow for a very quick turnaround.

We’ve decided to award the first place prize, a lifetime subscription to all of our existing sites, to all 8 finalists. We will be contacting all winners by email with the next step.

In addition, for everyone who submitted an entry, we are offering a FREE 1-Month Premium Subscription to JapanesePod101.com + a very special coupon. Look for a follow-up email in the next few days with details on how to claim your prize.

Thank you again!

Back in November, Dr. Matt Wachsman contacted us about his mnemonic system for learning Kanji using captivating and enjoyable flash movies. These movies involve multiple parts of the brain simultaneously, reinforcing memory linkage with visual associations, sequence associations, humor and rhymes. We hope these will appeal to people with a variety of learning styles and that you enjoy them. We plan to introduce about 6-12 new Kanji per week to cover the Kanji taught in the first 6 years of school in Japan and the JLPT levels 4 and 3.

This week’s animation is titled Nose!

In the past, we’ve encountered kanji that embody opposite meanings—namely, 出 and 追. Well, I’ve found another culprit: 約 (YAKU)!

A Note on the Yomi …

In one side of its split personality, this is the laid-back kanji of approximations; when you don’t know a precise number, you can precede it with 約 to express the idea of “about” or “circa” or “kinda sorta like that.” For instance, you might use 約 to say “about half”:

約半分 (yaku hanbun: about half)     about + half (last 2 chars.)

The full breakdown is about + half + part.

When I wrote an article about the soon-to-be-unveiled Shibuya Station, I asked a project architect for its dimensions. He supplied this information (without the rōmaji or English, of course!):

敷地面積 (shikichi menseki: site area)：約１４,０００m²
総床面積 (sō yukamenseki: gross square footage)：約２８,０００m²

A Breakdown of the Kanji …

The 約 allowed him to round off his figures.

Then, during a very different conversation, this kanji emerged in the opposite way, appearing in the word 約束 (yakusoku: promise, promise + to bind).

I had arranged to chat with a new Japanese language partner on Skype at 5 p.m. To my surprise, he contacted me at 4:15 and wanted to get going. I told my friend Mayumi about this. She grew up in Japan but has lived in Italy for years. Ever amused at the differences between the two cultures, she had this to say:
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