So I’m starting to learn Japanese, and I came across this stange thing: 声 and 聲 both have the same meaning, the same pronounciation, and the kanji 聲 is even constructed with 声 in it. Can someone help me understand what’s going on here ? (english 2nd langage don’t hate please)
聲: Out-dated kanji.
Something something 聲の形.
This is called a 旧字. Many kanji have been changed or simplified since they were originally conceived. The reasons vary. The original kanji is 聲 and it was simplified to 声.
EDIT: I like that the 旧 in 旧字 itself has an associated 旧字: 舊
oh ok thank you
and yes I found this by 映画聲の形
thank you very much for the enlightment
As you continue your Japanese journey you will occaisionally see similar things - creative usage of older / uncommon forms of kanji for emphasis or aesthetic purposes etc.
A pretty common one is the old numbering system. Rather than;
一 二 三 四 五 六 七 八 九 十
You may see
壱 弐 参 肆 伍 陸 漆 捌 玖 拾
Some examples:
- CoCo 壱番屋【イチ バン ヤ】- A curry chain in Japan.
- (pretty much all the numbers in the “Monogatari” anime series).
- 復讐の弐期【フクシュウ ノ ニキ】- The Season 2 annoucement trailer for the “Zombie Land Saga” anime)..
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