Glossary

Terms used throughout JiWiz, in case any of this is new to you.

漢字 (kanji): A Chinese-derived character used in Japanese writing, each carrying its own meaning and one or more readings.
ひらがな (hiragana): One of Japan's two syllabic scripts, used for native Japanese grammar and words not written in kanji.
カタカナ (katakana): Japan's other syllabic script, used mainly for foreign loanwords, names, and emphasis.
ローマ字 (rōmaji): Japanese written out in the Latin alphabet, e.g. "kanji" instead of 漢字.
ふりがな (furigana): Small kana printed above or beside a kanji to show its reading — common in material for learners or children.
常用漢字 (jōyō kanji): The roughly 2,136 kanji designated by Japan's Ministry of Education for general use — what's taught through the end of secondary school.
人名用漢字 (jinmeiyō kanji): Kanji approved for use in personal names, beyond the jōyō list.
部首 (bushu): A component of a kanji used to classify it in dictionaries — traditionally one of 214 Kangxi radicals.
筆順 (hitsujun): The standard sequence in which a kanji's strokes are written, which affects both handwriting and how a character is remembered.
音読み (on'yomi): A kanji's Chinese-derived reading, typically used in compound words.
訓読み (kun'yomi): A kanji's native Japanese reading, typically used when the kanji stands alone.
五十音 (gojūon): The traditional ordering of the Japanese syllabary — "fifty sounds" — used to alphabetize kana, much like ABC order in English.
送り仮名 (okurigana): Kana that follow a kanji to complete its reading or show grammatical inflection, e.g. the る in 食べる.
日本語能力試験 (JLPT): The Japanese-Language Proficiency Test, the standard test of Japanese ability for non-native speakers, with five levels from N5 (easiest) to N1.
名乗り (nanori): A special reading used only in personal names — not found in ordinary vocabulary, and listed separately from a kanji's on'yomi and kun'yomi.
熟語 (jukugo): A word formed by combining two or more kanji, such as 熟語 ("jukugo") itself.
表外漢字 (hyōgai kanji): A kanji that falls outside both the jōyō and jinmeiyō lists — not part of standard schooling and not approved for names, but still encountered in real text.
画数 (kakusū): The number of strokes needed to write a kanji — one of the ways to filter or look up a character when you don't know its reading.
部品 (buhin): A visual piece a kanji is built from — a broader idea than a classifying radical, since a component doesn't have to be one of the 214 official radicals to be useful for finding related kanji.
偏 (hen): A radical positioned on the left side of a kanji, e.g. さんずい (water) in 海.
旁 (tsukuri): A radical positioned on the right side of a kanji, e.g. おおざと in 都.
冠 (kanmuri): A radical positioned across the top of a kanji, e.g. うかんむり (roof) in 家.
脚 (ashi): A radical positioned along the bottom of a kanji, e.g. こころ (heart) in 恋.
垂 (tare): A radical that drapes down the top-left of a kanji, partially enclosing it, e.g. まだれ in 店.
繞 (nyō): A radical that wraps from the left side down and under a kanji, e.g. しんにょう in 道.
構 (kamae): A radical that encloses a kanji on multiple sides, e.g. くにがまえ (a box) in 国.