Lesson 12 of 12
Kanji Unit 12 — big, small, and a person under a tree
about 10 minutes
After this lesson you can
- Read the common adjectives written in kanji.
- Read a character you have never been taught, from its parts.
Words this lesson teaches
- 大
- big
- 小
- small
- 高
- high, expensive
- 安
- cheap; safe
- 新
- new
- 古
- old
- 長
- long; a chief
- 白
- white
- 本
- book; origin
- 何
- what
- 休
- rest, a day off
What it explains
本 is a book, and also the root of things
本 is 木 with a stroke across its base — a tree marked at the root. From root came origin, from origin came the original text, and from that came book. It is also the 本 in 日本, the origin of the sun. One character, four senses, and a straight line running through all of them; this is what a kanji looks like once it has been in use for three thousand years.
What you have actually learned
A hundred and two characters, which is the N5 set. More usefully: about fifteen parts that keep reappearing — 日, 月, 木, 人, 口, 手, 目, 言, 田, 力 and the rest — and the habit of looking for them. The parts are why the next hundred characters will take less time than these did, and why an unfamiliar character on a sign is now a puzzle with a method rather than a wall.