ふりがな. Small kana written above horizontal kanji or beside vertical kanji to indicate pronunciation. Also called ruby.
Questions tagged [furigana]
53 questions
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If Kanji are necessary to disambiguate homophones, how come it's still used, being that Japanese people seem to know the difference when speaking?
I'm a beginner.
People argue for Kanji being that it helps disambiguate homophones in written Japanese, but in spoken Japanese, kanji (or any other visual aid) are not available, yet people seem to know the difference between [話]{はな}す, [離]{はな}す,…
Matcha
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Why are points used where furigana would be normally?
Sometimes in mangas there are points where you would expect normally furigana. What meaning is it supposed to have?
olorin
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Why are some lyrics' words written in kanji whose usual reading is not how it is sung?
Some song lyrics in the official lyric book that accompanies the CD is sung as another word. Usually, the way it is sung is given as a furigana on the kanji:
Written: 君が希望に変わってゆく
(pardon the quality I took it using iPhone)
Sung:…
Lukman
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Is there a logic for deciding when to employ furigana?
I'm vaguely aware that the usage of furigana is based on the intended target audience. The younger or less likely literate the target audience the more furigana are employed. But is there a system to decide which words receive furigana and which…
deceze
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Why are furigana for number kanji almost always omitted?
Here's an example sentence from 北斗の拳 which uses a fair amount of furigana throughout.
xxxに残された命は三日...
Which includes furigana for のこ, いのち, and, bafflingly, even the か of 日, but none for 三. While I already know that 三日 is みっか, there are plenty of…
sartak
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Why is this 理由 【りゆう】 given the furigana わけ?
It might be hard to read because of the image resolution, but on the cover of this book, on the bottom left side, it says:
へんな日本語にも理由がある。
Which means something like:
"Even strange Japanese has a reason."
The thing is, 理由 has furigana above it…
Questioner
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Why use the kanji compound 惑星 for ほし?
The title of a manga I'm slowly working through is 惑星のさみだれ, but there is furigana above the two kanji that says ほし (star) instead. Why did it use both kanji, which seems to be normally read as わくせい (planet) when it could have used just 星 on it's…
AlbeyAmakiir
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Why do some kanji have furigana that are not valid readings?
In my text I read the sentence:
あなたが体験したよりもっと[巨]{おお}きく、もっと深くさせてくれる力があるからだ。
(furigana is from the text)
I understand 大きく, and I understand some words with 巨 like 巨大. However, when I looked up 巨きく in a dictionary, I was unable to find anything.
Why…
Chris
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How to choose the reading of 埋{う}める and 埋{うず}める?
埋める has two possible readings 埋{う}める and 埋{うず}める.
Of course kanjis have tons of inconsistencies. While (same furigana / same okurigana / different kanji / different meaning), such as 熱{あつ}い and 厚{あつ}い, is standard fare, what about (different…
david.t
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How to read 死神界?
In this manga I'm reading, the word 死神界 appears. I would have read it has しにがみかい but there was furigana indicating the reading to be ここ.
If there was no furigana, how could I know the correct way to read it?
Jak
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What does it mean when newspapers give furigana for 常用{じょうよう} kanji?
In these following examples, a few words are given furigana:
シドニー立てこもり、治安部隊が突入 人質？担架で救出
年賀状家族や友達へ投函
金剛峯寺にゴボウ奉納 黒河道世界遺産目指し
So, it looks like that furigana is provided when a 人名用{じんめいよう} kanji needs to be read. That makes sense. But, here are…
user312440
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Can "furigana" be used to refer to ruby that isn't kana?
In English, the term ruby refers to small text set above the main text (in horizontal writing) or to the right of the main text (in vertical writing). From Wikipedia:
Ruby characters (ルビ) are small, annotative glosses that can be placed above or…
user1478
7
votes
1 answer
Questions on an 1840's text: Battle at Yamaki Palace 治承四年八月中句右兵衞佐頼朝公
I am a bit lost understanding and translating elements of this text from the 1840s, even after persevering for a couple of days.
Two versions (with reasonable detail when viewed at actual scale).
My best attempt so far regarding…
musha
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At what time did furigana start being used?
I was wondering if anyone could tell me when furigana started being used in Japan? I'm writing a research paper, and I've been searching and digging around for the answer but can't find it anywhere.
Jellybean
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Is there a standard for furigana? ふりがな vs フリガナ
When writing furigana I was told if it's written「フリガナ」write it in katakana. If it's「ふりがな」then write it in hiragana.
I'm curious if there's a standard or everyone that makes a document just kind of chooses if they want it in hiragana or katakana?
Y12K
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