HENTAIGANA Meaning and
Definition
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Hentaigana refers to a set of alternate characters or handwritten forms of characters used in the written Japanese language. These characters were commonly employed in the past before the establishment of standardized writing systems. The term "hentaigana" literally translates to "variant kana" or "different kana."
During the periods of Heian and Kamakura in Japanese history (794-1333 AD), hentaigana were extensively utilized in various documents, including religious texts, diaries, and official records. These characters were derived from the cursive forms of kanji (Chinese characters) and utilized phonetically to represent specific syllables. The reason behind employing hentaigana was to capture the nuances of pronunciation that were not adequately represented by the existing kana system at the time.
Hentaigana can be recognized by their distinctive shapes which differ from the kana characters commonly used today. They generally exhibit more curved strokes, irregular shapes, or resemble different kanji characters altogether. Though hentaigana are not typically found in modern Japanese texts, they continue to be used in artistic contexts such as calligraphy, lettering, or decoration, where their unique appearance and historical significance provide a sense of traditional charm.
Overall, hentaigana serve as a significant part of Japan's linguistic and visual heritage, reflecting the evolution of the written language over time and offering a connection to the past.
Common Misspellings for HENTAIGANA
- gentaigana
- bentaigana
- nentaigana
- jentaigana
- uentaigana
- yentaigana
- hwntaigana
- hsntaigana
- hdntaigana
- hrntaigana
- h4ntaigana
- h3ntaigana
- hebtaigana
- hemtaigana
- hejtaigana
- hehtaigana
- henraigana
- henfaigana
- hengaigana
- henyaigana
Etymology of HENTAIGANA
The word "hentaigana" is a compound of two terms: "hentai" and "kana".
The term "hentai" (変体) means "variant" or "abnormal" in Japanese. It is derived from the combination of "hen" (変), meaning "strange" or "weird", and "tai" (体), meaning "form" or "shape".
The term "kana" (仮名) refers to the Japanese syllabic writing system, which includes hiragana and katakana characters.
"Hentaigana" is used specifically to denote a set of historical variant characters in Japanese kana script that were in use from the 10th to the 19th century. These characters deviated from the standard kana characters and were considered more ornate or calligraphic in style.
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