Hentaigana
Encyclopedia
are historical variants of modern standard hiragana
. They are a legacy of man'yōgana, where many different kanji
could be used to represent the same sound value. As the man'yōgana became simplified into cursive forms, multiple hiragana, including the hentaigana, was the result. Many derive from differing man'yōgana characters, but some are the result of differing styles of cursive writing.
Hentaigana were used more or less interchangeably with their standard equivalents on an ad hoc, individual basis until 1900, when the hiragana syllabary was standardized to one character per mora
. They are not included in Unicode
, though there is a proposal to encode it.
The hiragana "syllabic n"
derives from a cursive form of the character 无, and originally signified /mu͍/, the same as む. The spelling reform of 1900 separated the two uses, declaring that could only be used for /mu͍/ and could only be used for syllable-final /n/. Previously, in the absence of a character for the syllable-final /n/, the sound was spelled (but not pronounced) identically to /mu͍/, and readers had to rely on context to determine what was intended. This ambiguity has led to some modern expressions based on what are, in effect, spelling pronunciation
s. For example, "trying to say" is ultimately a misreading of mu as n. (The modern Japanese form comes from earlier . Many other changes are seen here as well.)
shops use hentaigana to spell kisoba on their signs. Hentaigana are used in some formal handwritten documents, particularly in certificates issued by classical Japanese cultural groups (e.g., martial art schools, etiquette schools, religious study groups, etc.). Also, they are occasionally used in reproductions of classic Japanese texts, or like blackletter
in English and other Germanic languages to give an archaic flair. However, most Japanese people are unable to read hentaigana, only recognizing a few from their common use in shop signs, or figuring them out from context.
Note that the hentai (: "variants") in this word is not the same as the hentai
which means "pervert".
Hiragana
is a Japanese syllabary, one basic component of the Japanese writing system, along with katakana, kanji, and the Latin alphabet . Hiragana and katakana are both kana systems, in which each character represents one mora...
. They are a legacy of man'yōgana, where many different kanji
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
could be used to represent the same sound value. As the man'yōgana became simplified into cursive forms, multiple hiragana, including the hentaigana, was the result. Many derive from differing man'yōgana characters, but some are the result of differing styles of cursive writing.
Hentaigana were used more or less interchangeably with their standard equivalents on an ad hoc, individual basis until 1900, when the hiragana syllabary was standardized to one character per mora
Mora (linguistics)
Mora is a unit in phonology that determines syllable weight, which in some languages determines stress or timing. As with many technical linguistic terms, the definition of a mora varies. Perhaps the most succinct working definition was provided by the American linguist James D...
. They are not included in Unicode
Unicode
Unicode is a computing industry standard for the consistent encoding, representation and handling of text expressed in most of the world's writing systems...
, though there is a proposal to encode it.
Development of the hiragana syllabic "n"
N (kana)
ん, in hiragana, or ン in katakana, is one of the Japanese kana, which each represent one mora. ん is the only kana that does not end in a vowel sound . The kana for mu, む/ム, was originally used for the n sound as well, while ん was originally a hentaigana used for both n and mu...
derives from a cursive form of the character 无, and originally signified /mu͍/, the same as む. The spelling reform of 1900 separated the two uses, declaring that could only be used for /mu͍/ and could only be used for syllable-final /n/. Previously, in the absence of a character for the syllable-final /n/, the sound was spelled (but not pronounced) identically to /mu͍/, and readers had to rely on context to determine what was intended. This ambiguity has led to some modern expressions based on what are, in effect, spelling pronunciation
Spelling pronunciation
A spelling pronunciation is a pronunciation that, instead of reflecting the way the word was pronounced by previous generations of speakers, is a rendering in sound of the word's spelling.-Examples of English words with common spelling pronunciations:...
s. For example, "trying to say" is ultimately a misreading of mu as n. (The modern Japanese form comes from earlier . Many other changes are seen here as well.)
Modern usage
Hentaigana are considered obsolete, but a few marginal uses remain. For example, many sobaSoba
is the Japanese name for buckwheat. It is synonymous with a type of thin noodle made from buckwheat flour, and in Japan can refer to any thin noodle . Soba noodles are served either chilled with a dipping sauce, or in hot broth as a noodle soup...
shops use hentaigana to spell kisoba on their signs. Hentaigana are used in some formal handwritten documents, particularly in certificates issued by classical Japanese cultural groups (e.g., martial art schools, etiquette schools, religious study groups, etc.). Also, they are occasionally used in reproductions of classic Japanese texts, or like blackletter
Blackletter
Blackletter, also known as Gothic script, Gothic minuscule, or Textura, was a script used throughout Western Europe from approximately 1150 to well into the 17th century. It continued to be used for the German language until the 20th century. Fraktur is a notable script of this type, and sometimes...
in English and other Germanic languages to give an archaic flair. However, most Japanese people are unable to read hentaigana, only recognizing a few from their common use in shop signs, or figuring them out from context.
Note that the hentai (: "variants") in this word is not the same as the hentai
Hentai
is a Japanese word that, in the West, is used when referring to sexually explicit or pornographic comics and animation, particularly those of Japanese origin such as anime, manga, and computer games. The word hentai is a kanji compound of 変 and 態...
which means "pervert".
Incomplete list
Some of the following hentaigana are cursive forms of the same kanji as their standard hiragana counterparts, but simplified differently. Others descend from different man'yōgana kanji.| a | | i | | u | | e | | o | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hira | Kata | Hentai | Hira | Kata | Hentai | Hira | Kata | Hentai | Hira | Kata | Hentai | Hira | Kata | Hentai | |
| 安 | 阿 | 悪 | 以 | 伊 | 意移 | colspan=2 | 有雲 | 衣 | 江 | 要盈 | colspan=2 | ||||
| K | colspan=2 | 閑可我駕賀歌哥 | colspan=2 | 支起貴喜 | colspan=2 | 倶具求 | 計 | 介 | 遣氣希 | colspan=2 | 許故古 | ||||
| S | 左 | 散 | 佐斜 | colspan=2 | 志四新事 | 寸 | 須 | 春数壽 | colspan=2 | 勢聲 | colspan=2 | 所楚處 | |||
| T | 太 | 多 | 當堂 | 知 | 千 | 地遅 | 川 | 川州 | 徒都津 | colspan=2 | 停亭轉弖 | colspan=2 | 東登度等斗 | ||
| N | colspan=2 | 那難 | colspan=2 | 爾耳二児 | colspan=2 | 怒努 | colspan=2 | 年禰 | colspan=2 | 能濃農廼 | |||||
| H | 波 | 八 | 者盤半葉頗 | colspan=2 | 日飛悲非 | colspan=2 | 婦布 | colspan=2 | 旁倍遍弊邊 | colspan=2 | 寶本報 | ||||
| M | colspan=2 | 万満萬真 | 美 | 三 | 見微身 | 武 | 牟 | 無舞 | colspan=2 | 免面 | colspan=2 | 毋裳茂 | |||
| Y | colspan=2 | 夜耶屋 | colspan=2 | 遊游 | 与 | 與 | 代餘余 | ||||||||
| R | colspan=2 | 羅 | colspan=2 | 梨里離理 | 留 | 流 | 累類 | colspan=2 | 禮連麗 | colspan=2 | 婁樓路露 | ||||
| W | colspan=2 | 王輪倭 | 為 | 井 | colspan=2 | 衛 | 遠 | 乎 | 越尾 |
External links
- Chart of hentaigana calligraphy from O'NeillPatrick Geoffrey O'NeillP. G. O'Neill is a British academic and writer on Japanese language and Noh drama.P. G. O'Neill was, with Ronald P. Dore, Sir Peter Parker and John McEwan one of the "Dulwich boys", 30 sixth-formers who commenced study of Japanese at SOAS in May 1942.After the war P. G...
's A Reader of Handwritten Japanese - A chart of hentaigana hosted by Jim BreenJim BreenJames William Breen is a Research Fellow at Monash University in Australia, where he was a professor in the area of telecommunications before his retirement in 2003...
of the WWWJDICWWWJDICWWWJDIC is an online Japanese dictionary based on the electronic dictionaries compiled and collected by Australian academic Jim Breen. The main Japanese–English dictionary files contain around 150,000 entries, and the ENAMDICT dictionary contains over 720,000 Japanese names... - Chart of kana from Engelbert Kaempfer circa 1693
- Hentaigana on signs
- Hentaigana
- Mojikyo fonts including hentaigana and word processor support
- Koin Hentaigana Outlying Characters for MS Mincho
