字

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character

On-Yomi: ジ — Kun-Yomi: あざ、あざな、-な

Elements:

character, house, child

Heisig story:

Here is the character for character itself. Not just kanji, but any written character from hieroglyphs to Sanskrit to our own Roman alphabet. It shows us simply a child in a house. But let us take advantage of the double-meaning of the key word to note that just as a child born to a Japanese house is given characters for its name, so it is also stamped with the character of those who raise it from infancy on.

Koohii stories:

1) [Christine_Tham] 30-7-2007(110): CHILDren learn Kanji characters underneath a HOUSE.

2) [komodo] 22-6-2008(82): "Why do I have to wear this roof on my head all the time father?" "Shut up! It builds character!".

3) [axelb] 19-3-2008(53): The first kanji characters you will learn in Japan is probably learnt at home (in the house of your family) when you are still a child. Imagine a really small preschool child doing this (to prevent confusing house with school like in study (#324 学)).

4) [harusame] 30-4-2009(22): The way a child grows up in his house determines his character.

5) [applesuki] 15-2-2006(19): Imagine a child in his home (under the roof) sitting at the kitchen table practicing his kanji characters.

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