Hello I am looking for a good website/book to learn more (when possible) the etymology of a kanji. I find it amazing, like: thread + meet = drawing, but hard to find info on it. Thank you!

Someone can probably recommend some resources in English, but if you’re okay with Japanese, you can use a site like this. Here’s the page for 絵. 「絵/繪」という漢字の意味・成り立ち・読み方・画数・部首を学習漢字の本来の意味(成り立ち)・歴史を学習する事で理解力を高められます。子供/大人の学習教材として活用下さい。 If you scroll down to the…

Wiktionary often has a short etymology for Kanjis

I have both The Key to Kanji and The World of Kanji , both great books for Kanji etymology. Personally I prefer the latter. The Key to Kanji is more streamlined, but a bit lacking in some minor ways - the book’s wide shape makes it less comfortable for study, has half as many kanji and uses artist in…

Lots of good links in this thread :slightly_smiling_face: [image] Resource to learn kanji by etymology? Kanji Hi, everyone. Whenever I learn a new word, I like to look up its etymological origin, to see how it connects to other words, learn of its historical development,…

I have used and enjoyed the Complete Guide to Japanese Kanji by Christopher Seely (published by Tuttle).

Thank you Leebo! I am unfortunately not good enough to use Japanese books. But one day I hope I will be able too :slight_smile:

World of kanji looks good. I will follow your advice and give it a go. Thank you Alexglaz!

Aaah cool, thank you distantflower!

Looks like a good book too. Thank you MaraVos :slight_smile:

[image] Leebo: On that page, they explain that the idea of 絵 was probably initially based on embroidery, which is how you can make sense of 糸 and 会う. Over time that developed into a more general idea of any drawing. Yes I imagined it was the reason but wanted to know if it was true. Also some…

Kanji etymology

Japanese Language Kanji

distantflower September 17, 2021, 2:27pm 5

Lots of good links in this thread

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Resource to learn kanji by etymology? Kanji	15	4754	April 7, 2021
Suggestion: when learning a new kanji, look the etymology up on Wiktionary! Japanese Language	0	319	March 9, 2020
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Kanji etymology

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