When was katakana created

Irrespective of their meanings these Kanji were used to represent Japanese syllables. The below chart shows the Kanji and their parts from which Katakana characters were formed. The below chart shows the Kanji from which Hiragana characters were formed.

Thank you very much for your knowledge and your will to share it with us not so familiar with this tongue. It has been so helpful and enrichning. It opens new doors to a Culture not yet entirely known to me. Your email address will not be published. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Learn more about this course. Japanese Language: Origins of the Chinese Script and Kana This article provides an introduction to the origins of the Chinese script and kana of the Japanese language.

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Thank you to all involved. Wonderful course! You will also enjoy viewing the beautiful books Ancient Japan did not have its own writing system. The Chinese script was imported from China but the way it was used was distinctive. Want to keep learning? This content is taken from Keio University online course,. This content is taken from Keio University online course. Share this post. See other articles from this course. This article is from the online course:. Conversely hiragana became used for poetry and personal material like letters.

Used from the Edo period but use discontinued after There was a really interesting program on TV recently about the development about the Japanese language, both written and spoken.

Some details I remember off the top of my head regarding this is that it was young women who preferred writing hiragana and warlords preferred katakana.

Their reasons seemed to be pretty similar. Women liked hiragana because they were easier than kanji and warlords used katakana because it was quicker. Well let me not bore you with just describing it in words. I actually apparently found a video link to the whole episode. Highly recommended to people on this site. From what I remember being told by a Japanese friend of mine , all of the Kana where invented by a single woman or a small group of women.

I'm not sure on the validity of this, as it seems to be a hot topic with Japanese scholars. As far as I'm aware, the Kana where both developed to aid in the study of Kanji. Since most kanji have multiple readings, it would make it easier for novice learners to remember the phonetic pronunciations of Kanji using a simple key.

I feel as though Hiragana uses shapes that are very similar to some elementary Kanji. Since Kunyomi readings seem to be the simpler ones to remember your experience may differ , I'd say that shapes resembling the kanji where chosen for Hiragana for that purpose.

This might be why most systems use Katakan for onyomi readings and Hiragana for kunyomi readings - at least, that's how I view it. The other thing to remember - as with most cultures - the skill of reading was usually taught to those who had the ability to pay to be taught it was, usually seen as more of a privilege than a right, as it is these days. Thus, children who were born to families with the means to educate them, and the desire for them to reach high standing would pay for their children to study.

The consensus back then was that women had no place in the court, and the only place for someone who was educated was - you guessed it - at court. So, men would have be taught Kanji as part of their education in Chinese classics, Confucianism, Buddhism and history; whereas Women would have not have been taught such things.

I've no idea when, but at some point someone decided to invent a written script so that they could communicate - which is where the theory that it was a woman comes in. This implies that the person or people who invented the Kana where of high standing otherwise they'd have to toil all day , and that they needed to communicate, in writing, with someone who was educated - probably a Husband or Father, due to the history of "Kidnapping" one's opponent's family members again, this is speculation on my part.

I realise this answer is a little ramble-o-matic in nature, that I may have skated around the topic, and that I haven't quoted any sources I'm at work at the minute, but I'll edit later on as and when I find evidence ; so I apologise if this isn't of a high enough standard to answer the original question. I think it is largely a myth that women invented hiragana.

We see many documents written by men at the time that mix kanji , katakana , and hiragana , so hiragana was not only used by women, but women only knew how to use hiragana. While we know this isn't true, and that the creation of hiragana was a gradual process, he greatly sped up the process of making kana by introducing the first purely phonetic script, Siddham still used in some Buddhist temples in Japan today.