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Originally Posted by CrystalDoll
It's quite interesting that some Japanese pronunciations are very similar to Chinese, even to my native dialect which is similar to native Taiwanese dialect. That makes Japanese learning more fun and interesting~Althought Japanese grammar is quite difficult, I am still encouraged by easy pronunciation.  |
It's because the pronunciation of kanji was borrowed from various parts of China (and Korea, which got its pronunciations from China) over the past 1600 years or so.
Kanji - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Generally, on'yomi are classified into four types:
Go-on (呉音?, "Wu sound") readings are from the pronunciation during the Southern and Northern Dynasties or Baekje, an ancient state on the Korean Peninsula, during the 5th and 6th centuries. Go means the Wu region (in the vicinity of modern Shanghai).
Kan-on (漢音?, "Han sound") readings are from the pronunciation during the Tang Dynasty in the 7th to 9th centuries, primarily from the standard speech of the capital, Chang'an (長安 or 长安, modern Xi'an).
Tō-on (唐音?, "Tang sound") readings are from the pronunciations of later dynasties, such as the Song (宋) and Ming (明). They cover all readings adopted from the Heian era (平安) to the Edo period (江戸).
Kan'yō-on (慣用音?, "Idiomatic sound") readings, which are mistaken or changed readings of the kanji that have become accepted into the language.
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