文字

Chinese

 
language; culture; writing; formal; literary; gentle
 
letter; symbol; character; word
simp. and trad.
(文字)		 文 字

Pronunciation

Noun

文字

  1. written symbols; writing; script; text; characters (Classifier: 種／种; 個／个)
  2. writing style wording; language (Classifier: 種／种; 個／个)

Synonyms

Derived terms

Japanese

Etymology 1

Kanji in this term
文 字
もん
Grade: 1		 じ
Grade: 1
on’yomi

From Middle Chinese compound 文字 (mjun dziH, literally “writing + character”). Compare modern Cantonese reading man4 zi6.

Pronunciation

Noun

文字 (hiragana もんじ, rōmaji monji)

  1. a letter, a character (symbol for a sound or a word)
  2. (linguistics) script, writing system
  3. (specific to Japanese) a written mora, a kana
  4. writing in general, written words
  5. (by extension from the “writing” sense) a document
  6. (by extension from the “writing” sense) reading and writing
  7. (by extension from the “writing” sense) studies
Usage notes

This reading is less common than moji below.

Etymology 2

Kanji in this term
文 字
もん > も
Grade: 1		 じ
Grade: 1
Irregular

/mond͡ʑi/ → /mod͡ʑi/

Sound shift from monji above.[3]

Pronunciation

Noun

文字 (hiragana もじ, rōmaji moji)

  1. a letter or character (symbol for a sound or a word)
  2. (linguistics) script, writing system
  3. (specific to Japanese) a written mora, a kana
  4. writing in general, written words
  5. (by extension from the “writing” sense) a document
  6. (by extension from the “writing” sense) reading and writing
  7. (by extension from the “writing” sense) studies
  8. (chiefly Kansai) the tails side of a coin, the side with writing on it
  9. (chiefly Kansai, by extension) a coin, money
Usage notes

This reading is more common than monji above.

The tails and coin, money senses are specific to this moji reading.[3]

Derived terms

References

  1. 1 2 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, →ISBN
  2. 1 2 1998, NHK日本語発音アクセント辞典 (NHK Japanese Pronunciation Accent Dictionary) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: NHK, →ISBN
  3. 1 2 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan

Korean

Hanja in this term
文字

Noun

文字 • (munja) (hangeul 문자)

  1. Hanja form? of 문자 (“letter”).
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