Kanji Fonts
Kanji is based on Chinese characters which we shall consider
ideographic for the sake of simplicity, while Kana (both Hiragana and Katakana)
is syllabic. Since the Japanese and Chinese languages differ greatly in
phonology, the Japanese use of Kanji characters has the additional complexity
of multiple readings per symbol. For example, a character can have an on
(phonetic) reading which is based on the Chinese pronunciation at the time the
symbol was borrowed by Japanese; alternatively, it can have a kun (semantic)
reading which is based on the Chinese meaning translated into Japanese. As one
would expect, not all Kanji characters were borrowed from Chinese. Numbering
more than 150, Kanji symbols coined in Japan are called kokuji. Kanji is used
for the basic elements of sentences, i.e. nouns, verb stems and adjective
stems. Compound words are written with more than one Kanji symbol.
Around 2000 Kanji characters are considered essential for daily
use, although the number of characters in existence greatly surpasses that. In
particular, characters for family names can be quite uncommon.
The Kanji font can be found in the non-Latin multilingual
font library by Monotype Imaging®.
Monotype Imaging Inc. 847-718-0400
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