japanese sign?

[rivanan]

Hello everyone!
I'm new here... just registered to ask you guys a question..

My friend found a sword with a symbol on it.. It looks Japanese,
we werent sure though.. Because it also looks like the Greek 'pi' letter.

So I was wondering..., could anyone please tell me what it means?
thanks a lot!


LINK: http://i50.tinypic.com/30j33gm.jpg

[NanteNa]

Ahh, that sign is on many knives, too actually. I'm not sure if it's anything to do with 'life' or something, as I don't read Japanese. It only reminds me of 'ka/ga'

And no, it really doesn't look like 'pi'. lol

[Mortry]

I think it's 'ka' written in katakana, but I could be mistaken

[rivanan]

hahaha sure it does!
the 'stripes' are bend the other way lol

[rivanan]

Originally Posted by Mortry

I think it's 'ka' written in katakana, but I could be mistaken

whats ka? a letter?

[NanteNa]

O_ô I really don't think so. Maybe it's because my mathly developed part of the brain is way far behind and that way I associate math with.. well.. nothing.

Originally Posted by rivanan

whats ka? a letter?

As I said 'ka/ga'. You can say it's a kind of 'letter' in the Japanese ''alphabet'' for foreign words called Katakana. This one represents the 'sound' "ka"

[rivanan]

i learned from a friend who studies japanese about katakana... the japanese
alphabet for foreign words
but what does it mean? is it just a letter or a part of a word/pronouncation?



oh wait you just said it.. its the 'ka' sound haha!
weird though.. why would anyone put that character on a sword?

[komitsuki]

It means "knife" in Kanji. The Sino-Japanese pronunciation is "tou".

[Mortry]

カ is more a syllable, not a letter...
It can be part of a word, just like roman letters can be part of a word too
But I don't know if it means anything on it's own

[yuriyuri]

Seriously, has no one thought of 刀?